The fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic fueled by the Delta variant may be the last surge the U.S. sees, according to the former head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
In an appearance on "CNN on Thursday, Dr Scott Gottlieb said that - provided no new variant emerges - Covid is on its way to becoming an endemic disease.
This means the virus will always be present in the population but circulating at low rates, similar to the seasonal flu.
'I think this Delta wave may be the last major wave of infection, assuming nothing unexpected happens, [such as] a variant that pierces the immunity offered by prior infection [and] by vaccination,' Gottlieb said.
'So, assuming that doesn't happen, and I think it's unlikely, this will be the last major wave of infection, and this becomes a more persistent, endemic risk.'
His comments come just one day after a new model predicted that Covid cases and deaths will decline to levels not seen since late March 2020, when the pandemic first took hold of the U.S.
Dr Scott Gottlieb, former FDA Commissioner, said on Thursday on CNN (above) that the Delta-fueled fourth wave could be the final surge of the COVID-19 pandemic
Cases have been declining with 135,611 new infections recorded on Wednesday and a seven-day rolling average of 131,076, a 14% drop from four weeks ago
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Over the last several weeks, the rate of increase of new coronavirus cases was starting to significantly slow before it began declining last week.
On Wednesday, the U.S. recorded 135,611 new cases of COVID-19 with a seven-day rolling average of 131,076, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
That figure is a decrease of 14 percent from the rolling average of 152,480 reported four weeks ago.
Forty-four U.S. states and the District of Columbia have seen Covid infections either decline or hold steady over the last week with just six states seeing increases, a DailyMail.com analysis of the data shows.
This includes states such as former virus hotspot Florida, which is recording half as many cases as it was in August.
Provided no new variant emerges, Gottlieb predicted Covid will become an endemic disease, meaning always present but transmitting at low rates, rather than an disease that results in hospitalization. Pictured: Members of a Covid critical care unit treat a COVID-19-positive patient inside the ICU at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in Sarasota, Florida, September 22
Hospitalizations have also declined with 86,811 patients seeking care, a 14 percent drop from 101,634 two weeks ago, according to figures
