Why Dr. Fauci is saying the US is 'out of the pandemic phase' of COVID-19

The United States is "out of the pandemic phase" after more than two years of COVID-19 causing tens of millions of cases and hundreds of thousands of deaths, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser for President Joe Biden.

Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, made the comment Tuesday on "PBS NewsHour."

"We are certainly right now in this country out of the pandemic phase," Fauci told PBS' Judy Woodruff. "Namely, we don't have 900,000 new infections a day, and tens and tens and tens of thousands of hospitalizations, and thousands of deaths. We are at a low level right now."

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the spread of COVID-19 a pandemic. The pandemic has not ended, according to the organization's designation.

A pandemic is a global outbreak of a serious new illness that requires “sustained transmission throughout the world," Fauci told USA TODAY in February 2020.

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According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, the seven-day average of new cases a day was more than 47,000 as of Monday, down from a peak of more than 800,000 in January.

The seven-day average of hospitalizations was down to 1,800 compared with more than 21,500 in January, and deaths had fallen to 330 from more than 3,400 in January 2021, before vaccinations were more widespread, CDC data shows.

But cases and hospitalizations were increasing from the previous week, according to CDC data.

Although metrics in the United States have improved since the winter, Fauci said, he does not believe the country would eradicate COVID-19. And, "if you will look at the global situation, there is no doubt this pandemic is still ongoing," he said.

Speaking with The Washington Post on Wednesday, Fauci expanded on his comments, acknowledging the global reach of the virus.

"The world is still in a pandemic. There’s no doubt about that," he said. "Don’t anybody get any misinterpretation of that."

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Winter in the United States was the "full-blown pandemic phase" of the virus, but the country is reaching a control phase, he told The Post.

Fauci told PBS that intermittent vaccination probably would be necessary to maintain the virus at lower levels, but he did not say how often that would be.

Since cases peaked, many cities and states have lifted restrictions such as mask mandates and vaccination requirements to enter certain businesses. A federal judge in Florida this month voided a national mandate requiring masks on flights and other public transit, though the Justice Department is appealing.

Earlier this week, the new White House COVID-19 response coordinator, Ashish Jha, described the United States as at "an inflection point" with the virus as cases tick up but remain far lower than the winter peak driven by the omicron coronavirus variant.

Contributing: Joel Shannon

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Anthony Fauci: United States is 'out of' COVID pandemic phase