The former head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is predicting that the most recent wave of COVID-19 cases will peak in late summer.
In an appearance on CNBC's Squawk Box on Thursday morning, Dr Scott Gottlieb said the spread of the Indian 'Delta' variant was going to cause infections to keep rising for the next few months.
'The bottom line is we're going to see continued growth at least for the next three or four weeks. There's going to be a peak probably sometime around late August or early September,' he said.
'It's possible you'll see a second small bump as kids go back to school and schools become vectors of transmission like we saw with [the Kent 'Alpha' variant], but this will come and go.'
It comes as the U.S. recorded 52,032 new cases on Wednesday with a seven-day rolling average of 39,939, which is a 268 percent increase from the 10,834 average recorded three weeks ago.
Every single state and the District of Columbia is reporting either infections rising or holding steady in the last week, according to a DailyMail.com analysis of Johns Hopkins data.
Additionally, 333 COVID-19 deaths were recorded on Wednesday with a seven-day rolling average of 264.
Fatalities, which are a lagging indicator, have not dramatically risen but instead have slightly increased by 10 percent from the average of 238 recorded three weeks prior.
Health officials say this is because people now are protected by vaccines, though in states that have less vaccine uptake - such as Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Missouri - hospitals are starting to fill up.
In fact, some medical centers say they are seeing the number of patients admitted meet or exceed the number seen in the spring or summer while others are so full they are turning patients away.
However, despite the spread of the Delta variant, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the White House refused to say whether they were reconsidering mask guidance for fully vaccinated Americans.
'We are always looking at the data as the data come in. Our guidance has been clear since we put it out several months ago and that is if you are unvaccinated, you should continue to wear a mask and protect yourself and those around you,' said CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky at a press briefing on Thursday.
'We have always said that local communities have to look at what is going on locally. In areas that have a high amount of disease and low amounts of vaccination...if you're vaccinated, you have exceptional levels of protection from that vaccine and you may choose to add an extra level of protection by putting on your mask and that is an individual choice.'
Former U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Dr Scott Gottlieb said on Thursday predicted the most recent wave of COVID-19 cases will peak in late August or early September. Pictured: Gottlieb testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing, April 2017
The U.S. recorded 52,032 new cases on Wednesday with a seven-day rolling average of 39,939, which is a 268% increase from the 10,834 average recorded three weeks ago
Deaths have continued to remain relatively flat with 333 recorded on Wednesday and a seven-day rolling average of 264, 10% up from the average of 238 recorded three weeks prior
At a press briefing on Thursday, CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky (above) refused to say whether or not the agency is considering revising its mask guidance for vaccinated Americans
Missouri continues to be one of the nation's COVID-19 epicenters with average cases rising by 29 percent from 1,441 per day to 1,862 per day in the last two weeks, according to DailyMail.com's analysis.
The state's vaccination rate is behind the national average with about 46.5 percent of residents having received at least one dose and 40.4 percent fully vaccinated.
Comparatively, 56.1 percent of the U.S. has received at least one dose and 48.6 percent are fully vaccinated.
Additionally, hospitalizations have risen across the state to 1,534 from 1,119 14 days prior.
The surge is due to the Delta variant, which has taken hold in the southwestern part of the state, such as Branson and Springfield, where rates of at least one vaccine dose in some counties
