These days it is difficult to escape talk of the coronavirus. Ranging from a public health crisis to an economic recession causer, COVID-19 has taken hold of the world’s attention. And while many were initially operating under the assumption that the coronavirus would be a short-lived phenomenon, recent reports by chief infectious disease doctor, Anthony Fauci, says the pandemic will be a reality for much longer than initially thought.

          Dr. Fauci made a statement addressing the coronavirus and asserted that it will likely be mid to late 2021 before things return to normal.

          While Dr. Fauci is hopeful that the vaccine will be developed by the end of 2020, or the beginning of 2021, he notes that while the news is good there is still a caveat. “By the time you mobilize the distribution of the vaccinations, and you get the majority, or more, of the population vaccinated and protected, that’s likely not going to happen to the mid or end of 2021,” he said.

          The recent news of the coronavirus fall predictions are not exactly promising either. President Donald Trump recently made a statement that he believes the United States has “rounded the final corner” when it comes to the virus and believes it is on track to subside. Dr Fauci pointed out that this is not the correct interpretation of the data.

          According to Fauci, the President is wrong: “I’m sorry, but I have to disagree with that [claim] because — if you look at the thing that you just mentioned — the statistics, they’re disturbing.” Instead Fauci has instructed Americans to “hunker down” for the fall and winter seasons.

          This stems from concerns about the high incidence of cases within the United States. Nearly 40,000 people are infected per day, and approximately 1,000 die. Fauci says these numbers are alarming. “But when you have a baseline of infections that are 40,000 per day ,and you have threats of increased test positivity in certain regions of the country — such as the Dakotas and Montana and places like that — what we don’t want to see is going into the fall season, when people will be spending more time indoors, and that’s not good for a respiratory-borne virus,” Fauci said. “You don’t want to start off already with a baseline that’s so high.”

          The coronavirus looks to just be worsening. As of now the best thing to do is practice social distancing, wear a face covering, and wash your hands.