The US remains in the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, because infections have not decreased sufficiently since the initial outbreak, the country’s leading infectious diseases expert has said.

Dr Anthony Fauci said the second wave of a pandemic happens when infections of a disease subside significantly before a marked resurgence at a later date.

During the flu pandemic of 1918, for example, infections spiked in the spring then “literally disappeared”, before an “explosion” of cases in autumn, Dr Fauci said.

“Rather than say, ‘a second wave,’ why don’t we say, ‘are we prepared for the challenge of the fall and the winter?’,” Dr. Fauci told CNN.

World Health Organization (WHO) data shows  the US has recorded more than 13,000 new infections of coronavirus a day since late March.

New cases dipped slightly after hitting a peak of 74,354 on 19 July, but have continued to increase by at least 40,000 a day since then, according to the data.

At least 202,000 people have died with Covid-19 so far in the US, the highest number of fatalities in the world.

Source:bbc.com