U.S. 'Not In A Good Place' As Colder Months Lie Ahead, Fauci Says

ACROSS AMERICA — The United States is "not in a good place" in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, according to its top infectious disease expert.

Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday said "we're starting seeing something going in the wrong direction" as daily cases hover around 70,000 nationally, according to an interview he gave with the medical journal JAMA, CNN reported.

As the fall continues and winter approaches, it's "a bad recipe for a tough time ahead," Fauci said.

Much of that concern could involve worries about the American hospital system's ability to handle the latest and growing virus surge.

More than 44,000 Americans were hospitalized with the virus as of Tuesday, according to the independent COVID Tracking Project. That's a 46 percent increase in hospitalizations from just a month ago, analysis from the New York Times shows.

Jodie Gord, a nurse manager at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee, has described the stress hospital workers — especially those in intensive care units — are experiencing as the workload continues to grow.

“Mentally, I was really going into a dark, slippery slope,” Gord told the Times. “In these last two weeks, I really felt it. And I felt it hard. I would be at home and just start crying for no reason.”

The virus continues to wreak havoc on the economic world as well.

The stock market fell sharply again Wednesday after ending mixed on Tuesday and plunging Monday, continuing a slide that reflected concern about the new coronavirus surge and lack of a new economic stimulus package soon. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 943 points lower Wednesday.

Stock market plunges come as a delay in the passage of a second economic relief bill affects millions of Americans who remain unemployed from a faltering economy. The latest numbers from the Department of Labor show a 7.9 percent unemployment rate in September. It's a slight improvement from the 8.4 percent reported in August.

The virus had an effect on the Los Angeles Dodgers' first World Series championship in 32 years Tuesday night when Justin Turner, the team's third baseman, was pulled mid-game after officials learned he had tested positive.

His test result came back inconclusive in the second inning, and it is unclear why the positive test was not confirmed until later in the game, according to ESPN. All season long, test results have typically been known before the first pitch.

Still, Turner was spotted on the field in Arlington, Texas, after the game posing for photos with the World Series trophy.

The Dodgers will delay and celebration "until it is safe," they said in a statement.

The Latest Numbers

At least 983 new coronavirus deaths and 74,410 new cases were reported in the United States on Tuesday, according to a New York Times database. Over the past week, there have been an average of 73,094 cases per day, an increase of 39 percent from the average two weeks earlier.

As of Wednesday, 36 states and Puerto Rico remained above the positive testing rate recommended by the World Health Organization to safely reopen. To safely reopen, the WHO recommends states remain at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days.

More than 8.8 million people in the United States have tested positive for the coronavirus as of Wednesday afternoon, and more than 227,300 have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Stay up to date on the latest coronavirus news via The New York Times or Washington Post.

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