Fauci says Americans are 'in for a whole lot of hurt' with the COVID-19 surge

• Top US infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said Americans are "in for a whole lot of hurt" with the current surge in coronavirus cases, according to The Washington Post.
• The comments provide a stark contrast from the picture the White House has painted of the pandemic. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said the country is "rounding the turn" on COVID-19.
• On the same day of Fauci's interview with The Post, the US reached nearly 100,000 daily new cases, the most that has been recorded in a single day since the start of the pandemic.

Top US infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said Americans are "in for a whole lot of hurt" with the current surge in coronavirus cases, according to The Washington Post.

"It's not a good situation," he told The Post in an interview Friday. "All the stars are aligned in the wrong place as you go into the fall and winter season, with people congregating at home indoors. You could not possibly be positioned more poorly."

The comments from the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases comes at a stark contrast from the picture the White House has painted of the pandemic.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said the country is "rounding the turn" on COVID-19, despite the US shattering records for the number of daily new cases.

Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, said the US needs to make an "abrupt change" to its COVID-19 strategy, The Post Reported. He also predicted a rise in deaths as cases surge.

The same day of the interview, the US reached nearly 100,000 daily new cases, the most that has been recorded in a single day since the start of the pandemic.

Fauci also said Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden was taking coronavirus seriously from a "public health perspective," according to The Post, while Trump's perspective was focused on the "economy and reopening the country."

The White House responded to Fauci's comments in a statement: "It's unacceptable and breaking with all norms for Dr. Fauci, a senior member of the President's Coronavirus Taskforce and someone who has praised President Trump's actions throughout this pandemic, to choose three days before an election to play politics."