WASHINGTON: Top US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci has said coronavirus cases could grow to 100,000 a day in the country if Americans don't start following public health recommendations.
He made the remark on Tuesday at a Senate hearing on reopening schools and workplaces.
Asked to forecast the outcome of recent surges in some states, Fauci said he can't make an accurate prediction but believes it will be "very disturbing".
"We are now having 40-plus-thousand new cases a day. I would not be surprised if we go up to to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around, and so I am very concerned," said Fauci, infectious disease chief at the National Institutes of Health.
Fauci said areas seeing recent outbreaks are putting the entire nation at risk, including areas that have made progress in reducing COVID-19 cases.
He cited recent video footage of people socialising in crowds, often without masks, and otherwise ignoring safety guidelines.
The US has so far reported 2,634,432 coronavirus cases with 720,631 recoveries and 127,410 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.