Washington, Aug 3

As the more contagious Delta variant of the novel coronavirus is spreading across the US, Anthony Fauci, White House chief medical advisor, has warned that "things are going to get worse."

"We are looking, not I believe, to lockdown but we are looking to some pain and suffering in the future because we are seeing the cases go up," Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Sunday, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the Xinhua news agency reported.

"The solution to this is, get vaccinated," he said.

The latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed a 64.1 per cent increase in Covid-19 cases in the country over the week ended July 30 compared with the previous week, or an average of 66,606 cases a day.

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