Against the backdrop of a recent increase in new Coronavirus cases, Dr. Anthony Fauci told Congress on Tuesday that the fight against the Coronavirus is facing a critical next few weeks, acknowledging concerns about growing outbreaks in Texas, Arizona and Florida.
"A couple of days ago, there were 30,000 new infections - that's very troublesome to me," Fauci told the House Energy and Commerce Committee, flanked by other federal health experts at a hearing.
While noting clear improvements in the situation in New York City, Fauci said the overall situation in the U.S. remains a concern.
"However in other areas of the country, we are now seeing a disturbing surge in infections," Fauci added, singling out Texas, Arizona, and Florida.
"It's a mixed bag, some good, and some now we have a problem with," Fauci said.
The testimony from Fauci and other federal health experts came as President Trump told reporters he was not kidding on Saturday night in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he said he had asked federal officials to slow testing on the Coronavirus - as he argued the jump in cases was due to more testing.
"By having more tests, we find more cases," the President told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House.
"We test better than anybody in the world."
Asked directly about the President's talk of slowing the rate of testing, Fauci and other top health officials said they had never been asked to do anything like that.
"To my knowledge, none of us have ever been told to slow down on testing," Fauci testified.
"We have a very low mortality rate, just about the best in the world," the President added.
While the number of Coronavirus cases has been going up of late, the number of deaths from the virus continues to go down, with the 7-day average reaching 573 deaths per day on Monday.
That's a dramatic drop from where it was on May 22 - 1,246 deaths per day - and on April 22 - when it was an astounding 2,146 deaths per day.
Since late April, the number of deaths has been trending down, even as overall cases hit a plateau.
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