After announcing the US surpassed 30 million cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday, Walensky took a moment to warn Americans of the "impending doom" related to recent surges in positive novel coronavirus diagnoses.
"I'm going to lose the script, and I'm going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom. We have so much to look forward to so much promise and potential of where we are, and so much reason for hope," the CDC director said during the White House COVID-19 Response Team press briefing.
"But right now I'm scared," she added, noting the US does "not have the luxury of inaction" when it comes to COVID-19.
"We are just almost there, but not quite yet," she said.
The CDC also announced on Monday that Walensky authorized "an extension to the eviction moratorium further preventing the eviction of tenants who are unable to make rental payments."
As a wife, mother, daughter, physician & CDC Director, I ask you to hold on a little while longer. We are almost there, but not quite yet. Continue using #COVID19 prevention methods & get vaccinated when you can so that you and others will still be here once this pandemic ends.
— Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH (@CDCDirector) March 29, 2021
US President Joe Biden later warned that "[i]f we let our guard down now, we can see the virus getting worse, not better. People are letting up on precautions, which is a very bad thing."
The US has logged 546,704 deaths related to the novel coronavirus, according to the CDC. Additionally, some 146 million vaccines have been administered.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House's chief medical adviser, appeared on CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday to highlight the US should be wary of a possible spike in infections following the current "plateau" in new COVID-19 cases.
"And that's exactly what's happened in Europe in several of the countries in the European Union where they plateaued and then started to come back," he said. "And that's why we say it really is almost a race between getting people vaccinated and having this peak that we may want to see. And we don't want to see that."
