The leading American government expert on infectious diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, warned that the United States would have between 100,000-200,000 deaths because of the disease caused by the coronavirus by the time the pandemic is over. He said that based on what they see right now, there could be as many as 200,000 American deaths because of the pandemic, with millions of Americans getting infected by the virus. He added, however, that projections are not really needed or useful since nothing is definite, and things are changing that it’s so easy to commit mistakes when making predictions, and that can mislead people.

As of Sunday, March 29th, the United States has more than 125,000 cases of Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, which originated in the city of Wuhan in China. So far, it has caused 2,200 deaths. The epicenter of the disease is now in New York City, which is now being overwhelmed by the number of cases. Fauci also warned that the numbers would continue to rise in the coming days as more people who have symptoms of the disease start going to hospitals to be checked.

The top government expert on infectious diseases also discredited predictions that there will be millions of deaths in the United States because of the disease. He said that projections of 1 million or even 2 million fatalities because of the disease are off the charts and that those are not likely to happen. One of those Doomsday predictions, which was made by Imperial College in the United Kingdom, said that there would be more than 2.2 million deaths in the United States alone, that is, if the government did not take appropriate actions.

The government is taking several steps now to lessen the impact of the pandemic and to decrease its spread among the populations. The government has issued a strong travel advisory advising people not to go into the worst affected areas like New York and New Jersey. President Trump has also authorized the National Guard, reserves, and the Individual Ready Reserve to be called up for active duty to fight the spread of the disease. He has also issued orders to bring back veterans into active duty so they can contribute to the national effort. Military assets have also been mobilized for combating the disease such as the 70,000-ton Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort, which was dispatched to aid New York City’s struggle against the coronavirus.

Despite all his efforts at fighting the disease, President Trump has been criticized by the opposition and the media for not doing enough with local officials like New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell blaming the President for not making the decisions that they should have made for their constituents.