(Adam Miller/ CBC News) — One of the top infectious disease experts in the world says despite early successes in the pandemic, Canada faces a worsening situation until a COVID-19 vaccine is rolled out widely and needs to “double down” on public health measures.
“Right now, the entire planet is in trouble. If you look at almost every country, there are very few exceptions,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the U.S. National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), in a wide-ranging interview with CBC News.
“The European Union, if you look at the number of new infections, it’s out of sight. The United States is out of sight. Canada, which was supposedly doing so well, is also getting into trouble. There’s a lot of community spread.”
Fauci says the virus is primarily spreading at the “household level” among smaller groups of people who may not even know they’re infected — something to be vigilant about as the holidays and colder months approach.
“We’ve got to be able to test widely in the community for asymptomatic spreaders of the infection,” he said by phone from Washington, D.C. (…)