‘I’m scared’: CDC director urges Americans to heed coronavirus warnings

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Rochelle Walensky has asked citizens to “hold on a little longer” with measures to curb coronavirus, admitting she felt a sense of “impending doom” as data showed the country tipping into another wave.

“I’m going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom,” she said.

“We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are, and so much reason for hope. But right now, I’m scared,” she added. 

The rate of infection in the country had been plateauing for several weeks, but is now once more on the rise, with the most recent data showing the seven-day average at close to 60,000 new cases. Deaths have risen three percent to around 1,000 per day.

Recalling her experience as a frontline physician, Walensky said, “I know what it’s like to stand in that patient room, gowned, gloved, masked, shielded, and to be the last person to touch someone else’s loved one because their loved one couldn’t be there.”