Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently said that things will get worse in the novel coronavirus pandemic.

• “I think we just have to assume that it’s going to be worse,” he told ABC News.

Fauci told ABC News he didn’t expect COVID-19 cases to jump so high during the pandemic. He then listed off all the factors that led to the increase.

• “But, you know, that’s what happens when you’re in a situation where you have surges related to so many factors inconsistent adhering to the public health measures, the winter months coming in right now with the cold allowing people or essentially forcing people to do most of their things indoors as opposed to outdoors. And then the traveling associated with the holiday season is all of the ingredients that unfortunately make for a situation that is really terrible.”

Fauci said the fact that the U.S. is seeing 300,000 cases in a day is “just terrible.”

• “It’s something that we absolutely got to grasp and get our arms around and turn that — turn that inflection down by very intensive adherence to the public health measures uniformly throughout the country with no exceptions.”

What’s to come in 2021:

The news isn’t all grim. Fauci told “Today Live” that 2021 will be a better year for people, and the pandemic may end soon.

• “This is the worst that we’ve had literally in 102 years … the good news is that science has and will come to the rescue.”
• “As we get well into the year, with a combination of vaccines and proper adherence to public health measures, we can end this thing and crush it.”