Fauci Predicts Up to 200,000 Americans Could Die From CCP Virus

President Donald Trump listens as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, answers a question about the virus and the current U.S. outbreak during a news briefing at the White House on March 16, 2020. (Leah Millis/Reuters)

The U.S. government’s foremost infection disease expert warned March 29 that the United States could experience more than 100,000 deaths and millions of infections as a result of the CCP virus pandemic.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” on March 29, said that he “would say between 100,000 and 200,000” Americans will succumb to the virus. “We’re going to have millions of cases,” he said, adding, “I don’t want to be held to that,” as the pandemic is “such a moving target.”

As of March 29, more than 138,000 cases of the virus have been reported so far in the United States. More than 2,400 people have died, according to researchers with Johns Hopkins University.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Party’s coverup and mishandling allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

Dr. Deborah Birx, head of the White House coronavirus task force, said the entire country will be affected.

“No state, no metro area, will be spared,” she told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on March 29.

Experts have said that most of the people who suffer from COVID-19 have mild or moderate symptoms that don’t require hospitalizations or intensive care. The fatality rate is higher among elderly people and individuals with underlying health problems.

The pandemic has upended everyday life around the world, causing closures of businesses and schools as federal and state officials seek to enforce measures to curb the spread of the disease.

Times Square stands mostly empty as much of the city is void of cars and pedestrians over fears of spreading the CCP virus in New York City on March 22, 2020. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Fauci, also speaking to CNN, said he doesn’t believe the White House will lift its social distancing guidelines after 15 days. The Trump administration issued a 15-day federal guidance that called on Americans to stay at home.

“My own opinion, looking at the way things are, I doubt if that would be the case,” he said. “We'll look at it. And if we need to push the date forward, we will push the date forward.”

Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and who is a member of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force, told the network that social distancing measures are likely to continue for some time.

“It’s going to be a matter of weeks. It’s not going to be tomorrow, and it’s certainly not going to be next week,” he said. “It’s going to be a little bit more than that.”

Metropolitan areas such as New York City have been hit particularly hard, prompting worries about a surge in patients overwhelming hospitals and fears that the U.S. medical supply chain won’t hold up.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams warned last week that several other states and cities will start to see an uptick in cases. Three cities—Detroit, Chicago, and New Orleans—were singled out as potential “hot spots” for the virus.

These cities “will have a worse week next week than what they had this week,” Adams said on March 27.

“The virus and the local community are going to determine the timeline. It’s not going to be us from Washington, D.C. People need to follow their data, they need to make the right decisions based on what their data is telling them,” Adams said.