CDC director fights back tears as she warns of soaring COVID-19 cases: 'Right now I'm scared'

• CDC Director Rochelle Walensky was near tears on Monday warning of a new surge in COVID-19 cases.
• "Right now I'm scared," Walensky said at the White House's COVID-19 briefing.
• She urged people to "hold on a little while longer" as more people get vaccinated.

Rochelle Walensky, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fought back tears on Monday as she warned that a fourth surge in COVID-19 cases could be on the way.

"Right now I'm scared," Walensky said during the White House's COVID-19 press briefing, citing troubling trends in new coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths across the US.

The country's daily coronavirus cases peaked in early January at more than 315,000, then dropped steadily through mid-March. But average daily cases have risen by about 15% in the past two weeks, and average weekly hospitalizations have increased by 5%, even as vaccinations ramp up.

Twenty-eight states have seen an uptick in daily cases over the past few weeks. Michigan's average weekly cases increased almost fourfold in five weeks, while New York's average weekly cases rose by 42% in two weeks.

US deaths are still trending down overall, but rises typically appear at least three weeks after rises in cases. An increase in hospitalizations is usually a sign that deaths will follow. At least eight states have already seen daily deaths increase in the past two weeks.

"I'm asking you to just hold on a little longer, to get vaccinated when you can, so that all of those people that we all love will still be here when this pandemic ends," Walensky said.

Walensky fears a 4th surge

Walensky described "the recurring feeling I have of impending doom" when looking at the nation's COVID-19 case numbers lately.

"I'm speaking today not necessarily as your CDC director, not only as your CDC director, but as a wife, as a mother, as a daughter, to ask you to just hold on a little while longer," she said. "I so badly want to be done. I know you all so badly want to be done. We are just almost there, but not quite yet."

Some experts think that as the three authorized COVID-19 vaccines become widely available, Americans are getting the false impression that it's safe to dine indoors, go to bars, or attend large gatherings - whether or not they're fully vaccinated. Several states, including Texas and Georgia, have already eliminated capacity restrictions for restaurants and bars. At least 16 states no longer have mask requirements.

"For the health of our country, we must work together now to prevent a fourth surge," Walensky said.

At the briefing on Monday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden's chief medical advisor, attributed the recent increase in US cases to the nation "really doing things prematurely right now with regard to opening up."

In an interview with CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Fauci also attributed rising cases to the spread of new, more virulent coronavirus strains. The US has identified more than 10,000 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, first detected in the UK, since December. Studies have found that B.1.1.7 is 50% to 70% more contagious than its predecessors, and the CDC says B.1.1.7 now accounts for roughly 26% of sequenced virus nationwide.

'I know what it's like ... to be the last person to touch someone else's loved one'

Walensky reminded Americans that "we are not powerless" against the virus. She encouraged everyone to continue masking, distancing, washing their hands, and staying home.

Roughly a third of the country's adults have had at least one vaccine dose, and emerging evidence suggests the vaccines reduce coronavirus transmission in addition to blunting severe COVID-19 symptoms. But more-transmissible variants mean the virus is "probably less forgiving" when people don't take precautions, Walensky said.

"I know what it's like as a physician to stand in that patient room - gowned, gloved, masked, shielded - and to be the last person to touch someone else's loved one," she said. "I know what it's like to pull up to your hospital every day and see the extra morgue sitting outside."

To take her CDC role, Walensky stepped down as the chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital roughly two months ago, as the pandemic was killing thousands of Americans every day.