Anthony Fauci said he 'strongly suspects' that Covid-19 deaths will go down in the winter and suggested that even vaccinated people wear their masks outside.
Fauci - during an interview with Greta Van Susteren, which will be aired on Sunday - was asked if he expected another surge in Covid cases this winter caused by different variants.
'I strongly suspect that you're going to start seeing the deaths go down similar to the hospitalizations; how quickly they go down and how thoroughly they go down is going to depend a lot on a number of circumstances, which will be influenced by things like the colder weather, people doing things indoors,' Fauci said.
However, Fauci stressed that masks should remain in use even by vaccinated people when they step out of their home.
'When you have a lot of infection in the community, even though you're vaccinated, when you are not home but outside in congregate settings in the public, wearing masks, I think would be very prudent,' he said.
Anthony Fauci (left) told Greta Van Susteren (right) in an interview, which will air on Sunday, that he 'strongly suspects that you're going to start seeing the deaths go down similar to the hospitalizations'
Fauci said that the number of new Covid infections and deaths in the coming months will be influenced by 'colder weather, people doing things indoors (and) how well they go by the CDC guidelines. He also suggested: 'Even though you're vaccinated, when you are not home but outside congregate settings in the public, wearing masks, I think would be very prudent'
Fauci also noted that there has been a 'turnaround in the slope' in the prevalence of cases and hospitalizations over the last few weeks.
On Thursday, the US reported 110,060 new infections, with a seven-day rolling average of 112,792.
That is a 32 percent decline from the 166,113 average reported four weeks ago and the lowest figure seen since early August, according to a DailyMail.com analysis.
Deaths have recently been on the rise, with 2,718 virus-related fatalities recorded on Thursday and a seven-day rolling average of 2,043 - a 45 percent increase from the 1,401 average deaths recorded a month ago.
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