Fauci said the spread of the coronavirus is his 'worst nightmare' come true, and warned it 'isn't over yet'

Fauci noted that the virus has spread more than other deadly diseases and still has a high death rate, meaning it has "devastated the world."
He said that even though millions have been infected, "it isn't over yet."
Many countries are reopening even as their own outbreaks are not yet under control, and many US states are still seeing new spikes in cases and hospitalizations from the virus.
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Dr Anthony Fauci, the US' top infectious disease expert, warned that the coronavirus is his "worst nightmare" come true and "isn't over," even as many countries and US states start reopening before their outbreaks are under control.

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, pointed to how easily the virus spreads as well as its high death rate, which has allowed it to spread around the world in ways that other deadly viruses have not.

He made the remarks in a video interview at BIO Digital, a virtual healthcare conference, that was shown on Tuesday, CNBC and CNN reported .

In the interview, Fauci described the virus as "highly transmissible."

"Now we have something that turned out to be my worst nightmare," he said.

"In the period of four months, it has devastated the world."

Fauci Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The virus has infected more than seven million people and killed more than 400,000 globally, and has plunged the world into unprecedented lockdowns that have stalled the global economy.

The way the virus spreads has made it "very different" to other outbreaks, he said.

"I mean, Ebola was scary. But Ebola would never be easily transmitted in a global way," he said.

"HIV, as important as it is, was drawn out over an extended period of time.I mean, I think the ultimate impact of AIDS almost certainly will be greater than anything we're talking about now."

While the coronavirus appears to have a lower death rate than viruses like Ebola or SARS, it has become much more widespread.

The coronavirus, Fauci said, "took over the planet."

wuhan hospital coronavirus icu patients China Daily CDIC/Reuters

"It's a testimony to not only the extraordinary capability of transmission but of the extraordinary travel capability we have."

"I mean, it started in a very well-defined place in a city in China called Wuhan. And China is a big country. A lot of people travel all over the world. They travel to the United States. They travel to Europe."

We're 'at almost the beginning of understanding' COVID-19

Fauci noted that there have been "millions and millions of infections worldwide" since the virus knowingly emerged in Wuhan at the end of December 2019.

"And it isn't over yet," he said.

He noted that there were many things still unknown about the virus, including the long-term effects of infection on patients.

He described experts as being "at almost the beginning of understanding" the virus.

Fauci's warnings come as many countries around the world decide to reopen even as the number of new cases recorded in a single day was noted on Sunday, with 136,000.

New York coronavirus subway Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization, warned this week that the crisis is "far from over," The New York Times reported .

Russia, for example, is lifting restrictions even as its infections increase.

Meanwhile, new countries appear poised to become new epicenters, including in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In the US, 14 states and Puerto Rico just recorded their highest seven-day average of coronavirus cases since the outbreak began, according to data tracked by The Washington Post .

And nine states have reported increases in the number of people hospitalized over the virus since the end of May.

Hopes for a vaccine

Fauci also said the response from the pharmaceutical industry has been "stellar" and there would be "more than one winner in the vaccine field because we're going to need vaccines for the entire world."

However, he said he doesn't think price controls can be enforced before they are developed, as he said previous experience showed him that "if you try to enforce things on a company that has multiple different opportunities to do different things, they'll walk away."

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