Dr. Fauci just told Americans not to spend their Christmas with their families. He warned that celebrations “cannot be business as usual this Christmas.” During an interview with the Washington Post, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said that he will personally follow the same protocols that he had for Thanksgiving. That means he will be avoiding gatherings with his family and spending the holidays with his wife.

“I’m going to be with my wife — period,” Fauci said this week. “The Christmas holiday is a special holiday for us because Christmas Eve is my birthday. And Christmas Day is Christmas Day. And they are not going to come home … That’s painful,” the doctor said of his daughters.

“We don’t like that. But that’s just one of the things you’re going to have to accept as we go through this unprecedented challenging time,” he added. The doctor further warned that he “could create an even more catastrophic spread of the virus than Thanksgiving, when millions traveled and gathered despite similar pleas to stay home.”

Fauci further warned that Americans should avoid gatherings that are outside of their household. He said that people should stay at home as much as they can and just keep their interactions with members of their own household.

“This cannot be business as usual this Christmas because we’re already in a very difficult situation, and we’re going to make it worse if we don’t do something about it,” Fauci said.

Fauci warned that the levels of community spread of the coronavirus. But he added that those who are determined to attend gatherings this holiday season should get tested before they travel and then quarantine before mingling with the people they have come to visit.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is just one among the many who was not pleased with Fauci’s advice, “It is tragic for Dr. Fauci to urge people to ignore Christmas. This is a key moment of religious celebration, a time for families to gather for spiritual and personal reasons and a time of hope for the future. The world can’t be treated as though only one thing matters,” He posted on Twitter.