Fauci reiterated that the US often follows other countries, citing the United Kingdom, which also has the BA.2 variant, as an example. He said that in addition to the withdrawal of many orders and restrictions on indoor masks, there has been a reduction in immunity. “These conditions exist in the United States as well,” he said. “Therefore, I will not be surprised if we see an upward trend in cases. It is difficult to predict whether this upward trend will escalate where there are many more cases.” Asked later if this autumn should be expected to look like the previous two – and if people should prepare for something around October – Fauci said he believes “it is possible to see a rise in the fall”. He noted that “these are uncharted waters for us with this virus” and that other viruses, such as the flu – with which people have decades of experience – can predict with some degree of accuracy what might happen. “I would think we should expect to see some increase in cases as we get to the colder weather in the fall,” he said. “It simply came to our notice then [Food and Drug Administration] and their advisory committee is currently meeting to draw up a strategy, and we at [National Institutes of Health] we are doing studies now to determine what would be the best impetus “. CNN’s Virginia Langmaid contributed to this report.
