US Could Hit 300,000 COVID-19 Deaths By The End Of Year, Former FDA Commissioner Says

Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb warned Wednesday that the United States could hit 300,000 deaths from COVID-19 by the end of the year if current trends do not change.

“Right now we have close to 1,000 casualties a day; so if we don’t change that trajectory, you could do the math and see where we are towards the end of the year,” Gottlieb said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” program.

Gottlieb has said that lockdowns could be necessary to stop the outbreak.

“We have the specter right now of parts of this country where the local school boards are making a decision to close schools, but the bars and restaurants are still open,” Gottlieb said. “We need to make a decision what’s important to us and what we’re willing to sacrifice right now until we get to the other side of this.”

States such as Ohio and Texas have implemented mask mandates to curb the spread of the virus. A study released in June found that 33,000 lives could be saved by Oct. 1 if 95% of Americans wore masks.

The U.S. has over 3.9 million coronavirus cases and over 142,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a top White House adviser on the pandemic, warned that the virus may never be eradicated, but it could be controlled.

“I think with a combination of good public health measures, a degree of global herd immunity and a good vaccine, which I do hope and feel cautiously optimistic that we will get, I think when we put all three of those together, we will get control of this, whether it’s this year or next year. I’m not certain,” Fauci told the TB Alliance on Wednesday.

“I don’t really see us eradicating it," Fauci said.

Fauci has said COVID-19 is different from SARS, a virus that emerged and was contained in the early 2000s.