Fauci Doesn't Expect Lockdowns Amid Delta Variant Outbreak

Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious diseases expert, said during an interview on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday that he doesn't "think we're going to see lockdowns" to prevent the spread of COVID-19 amid the spread of the Delta variant.  While the health official believes that an adequate percentage of Americans have been vaccinated to avoid lockdowns, he warned that "things will get worse" in the coming months. "Not enough to crush the outbreak, but I believe enough to not allow us to get into the situation we were in last winter," he said. The 7-day average of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. was at 79,763 on Sunday, over a 500% increase from the month before.

Some headlines highlighted Fauci's comments that dismissed the idea of another lockdown; others ran with the health official's warning that the country’s latest COVID-19 surge is going to get worse. The majority of outlets seemed to agree that most of the new infections are coming from unvaccinated people. Editor's Note: This summary was updated at 12:46 p.m. on 8/2/21 for clarity. Our original summary insinuated that there had been a national lockdown, when that was not the case.