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Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a coronavirus press briefing on Monday that the world may never return to the “normal” that was known before the outbreak.
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He said that we will gradually come back to where we can function as a society again, but, even with a vaccine, the virus will be a looming threat.
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"When we get back to normal, we will go back to the point where we can function as a society,” he said. He continued, “If you want to get back to pre-coronavirus, that might not ever happen in the sense that the threat is there.”
As of early Tuesday morning, the coronavirus has been blamed for 74,000 deaths globally. Health experts in some of the hardest-hit areas have reported a decline in new infections, but the U.S. is expecting a very challenging next few weeks.
Fauci said Sunday that people must be prepared for a resurgence next year, which is why officials fighting the pandemic are pushing for a vaccine and clinical trials for therapeutic interventions so “we will have interventions that we did not have” when this started.
He said Monday that he is encouraged about therapies and “confident that over a period of time we will get a good vaccine, that we will never have to get back to where we are right now."
Fox News' Ronn Blitzer and the Associated Press contributed to this report
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