Fauci: Second wave of infections 'not inevitable'

Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who has been helping the White House deal with the coronavirus outbreak for the past several months, said on Wednesday that a second wave of coronavirus infections in the fall is "not inevitable," a note of optimism after weeks and weeks of dire warnings from the veteran medical official. 

Fauci said on CNN that he was "feeling better about it as we go by with the weeks that go by and we see that we're getting more and more capability of testing," a metric the doctor has cited as critical for re-opening the United States economy and resuming something of a normal way of life. 

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, and others have warned that the disease could strike again hard in the fall. But he said recent steps taken by health officials and average Americans made that scenario less likely. 

"We often talk about the possibility of a second wave, or of an outbreak when you reopen," he said. "We don't have to accept that as an inevitability. Particularly when people start thinking about the fall, I want people to really appreciate that it could happen, but it is not inevitable."

"If we do the kinds of things that we're putting in place now, to have the workforce, the system, and the will to do the kinds of things that are the clear and effective identification, isolation and contact tracing, we can prevent this second wave that we're talking about," he said. 

"Contact tracing" is the process by which government officials identify individuals who have been infected by coronavirus and then track down anyone who may have come in proximity with them to ensure they remain isolated. 

Fauci also said Americans should wear face masks, calling it a health measure as well as "a symbol for people to see that that's the kind of thing you should be doing."