Top US virus expert Dr. Anthony Fauci troubled by virus surge in Tennessee, other U.S. states

Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday there are early signs that a coronavirus outbreak could be brewing in Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky.

The leading infectious diseases expert expressed concern about those states that are starting to see a rise in case numbers.

“They’ve really got to jump all over that …”

Dr. Anthony Fauci

“They’ve really got to jump all over that, because if they don’t, then you might see the surge that we saw in some of the other southern states,” Fauci told the Associated Press.

The so-called positivity rate, or the percentage of tests run that are positive, appears to be rising in those states — an early indication that the outbreak is worsening.

President Donald Trump and others have blamed the rise in cases in the U.S. on increased testing.

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, urged Americans to wear masks and to follow social distancing guidelines.

More than 4 million people in the U.S. have been infected by the coronavirus and the death toll is nearing 150,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.