Against the backdrop of a recent increase in new Coronavirus cases, Dr. Anthony Fauci told Congress on Tuesday that the fight against the Coronavirus is facing a critical next few weeks, acknowledging concerns about growing outbreaks in Texas, Arizona and Florida.
"A couple of days ago, there were 30,000 new infections - that's very troublesome to me," Fauci told the House Energy and Commerce Committee, flanked by other federal health experts at a hearing.
While noting clear improvements in the situation in New York City, Fauci said the overall situation in the U.S. remains a concern.
"However in other areas of the country, we are now seeing a disturbing surge in infections," Fauci added, singling out Texas, Arizona, and Florida.
"It's a mixed bag, some good, and some now we have a problem with," Fauci said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci: "If you look at how we've been hit; we've been hit badly.
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 23, 2020
Also: "None of us have ever been told to slow down on testing. That just is a fact. In fact, we will be doing more testing...not less."
Full #coronavirus hearing video here: https://t.co/hyeFjLL8Hh pic.twitter.com/dXHHBrTS6L
Dr. Anthony Fauci says the US is still on track to have a Covid-19 vaccine possibly by the end of 2020: "We feel cautiously optimistic based on the concerted effort" pic.twitter.com/UWqf4qrNR3
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) June 23, 2020
The testimony from Fauci and other federal health experts came as President Trump told reporters he was not kidding on Saturday night in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he said he had asked federal officials to slow testing on the Coronavirus - as he argued the jump in cases was due to more testing.
"By having more tests, we find more cases," the President told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House.
"We test better than anybody in the world."
Asked directly about the President's talk of slowing the rate of testing, Fauci and other top health officials said they had never been asked to do anything like that.
"To my knowledge, none of us have ever been told to slow down on testing," Fauci testified.
NEW: Asked whether he was kidding when he claimed at his Tulsa rally he had instructed officials to slow down COVID-19 testing, Pres. Trump says, "I don't kid."
— ABC News (@ABC) June 23, 2020
Yesterday, press sec. Kayleigh McEnany told @bgittleson the comments had been "in jest." https://t.co/yXYp4j9zXj pic.twitter.com/jjd5XVLRye
The decline in deaths from the Coronavirus continues, with just 287 reported on Monday. The 7-day average dropped to 573 deaths per day (4,711 in the past week). pic.twitter.com/YUNJP1nvwy
— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) June 23, 2020
"We have a very low mortality rate, just about the best in the world," the President added.
While the number of Coronavirus cases has been going up of late, the number of deaths from the virus continues to go down, with the 7-day average reaching 573 deaths per day on Monday.
That's a dramatic drop from where it was on May 22 - 1,246 deaths per day - and on April 22 - when it was an astounding 2,146 deaths per day.
Since late April, the number of deaths has been trending down, even as overall cases hit a plateau.