[Keilar:] The Trump administration's top infectious disease expert is alarmed where the United States is in the fight against the coronavirus. Dr. Anthony Fauci says the numbers of new cases that the country is reporting is a serious new problem, especially as we head into colder months.
[Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director, National Institute Of Allergy & Infectious Diseases:] I'm disturbed and concerned about the fact that our baselines of infections is still stuck at around 40,000 per day. That's no place to be when you're trying to get your arms around an epidemic and get it to a very low baseline as you get into a situation where you're going to be more indoors than outdoors.
[Keilar:] The big picture right now, you have 22 states that are reporting an increase in cases. And 23 are holding steady. Only five states are reporting fewer cases than last week. And 23 states are reporting an increase in the numbers of COVID-19 deaths. There are 10 holding steady there. And 17 are reporting a decrease. Wisconsin is one of the 22 states where new cases have been on the rise. This state is, reporting a record high of nearly 2,900 new cases on Saturday. Governor Tony Evers is urging people to get back to the basics of fighting the virus. This includes, of course, wearing masks. Over the weekend, several county health departments issued public health emergency COVID-19 alerts because of the, quote, "very high levels of cases which were and are resulting in increased hospitalizations." My next guest is Dr. Tom Nichols. He is vice president of medical affairs for Ascension St. Elizabeth in Appleton, Wisconsin. And he's also the surge section chief for Ascension Wisconsin. Which, as I understand it, sir, means you are overseeing 24 hospitals across the state. So you really have a good look at what's going on. Can you tell us why you're seeing this surge?
[Dr. Tom Nichols, Vice President Of Medical Affairs, Ascension St. Elizabeth Hospital & Surge Section Chief, Ascension Wisconsin:] Thanks for having me on, Brianna. I think we're seeing it because we're seeing exponential spread in the virus in our communities here in Wisconsin. As we have a month ago, we had 12 patients hospitalized in our communities. Today it's 130. It's not just impacting our hospitals. It's also impacting our staff. As it spreads through the community, it's impacting the staff that need to come to work but can't because of exposures in the community.
[Keilar:] Have you been able to pinpoint it? Is it schools reopening? Is it colleges? Is this people just getting tired of being kind of shut in more than they're used to for several months now? Have you been able to get a hold on what the behaviors are behind this?
[Nichols:] Yes, I think people are getting tired of it. I'm getting tired of COVID. But what we have seen is, as people start to drop their guard down, the infection takes hold. The virus doesn't seem to care whether we're tired of it or not. And so we need to keep reinforcing those same basic behaviors of washing your hands, avoiding crowds, wearing a mask, and staying home when you're not feeling well.
[Keilar:] Yes, it's incredibly opportunistic, right? That's what it does. Tell us the adjustments that hospitals are having to make now.
[Nichols:] Well, I do feel fortunate to be part of Ascension, which is a national health
[Keilar:] Oh, no. We lost Dr. Tom Nichols. We'll try to reestablish that. Thank you so much, Dr. Nichols, just in case we don't. I do want to let out viewers know we're following breaking news that is coming to us out of the White House. And this has to do with the continuing spread of the coronavirus and the outbreak there. Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, the latest testing positive after spending time with journalists without wearing a mask yesterday. Why did she do that? She should not have done that. We'll have a live report, next.