CDC director says she feels ‘impending doom’ as COVID cases again rise. ‘I’m scared’

A top U.S. health official sounded an ominous alarm Monday about another surge in COVID-19 cases in the nation.

Briefly choked with emotion, Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said she was going to go off-script and reflect on a feeling of “impending doom” at a COVID-19 task force briefing.

”Now is one of those times when I have to share the truth and I have to hope and trust you will listen,” Walensky said. “Right now I’m scared.”

Walensky noted new findings that show a rise in COVID-19 cases even as vaccines roll out across the United States — adding that statistics on new cases are often several weeks behind.

On Friday, the CDC reported a 6.7% increase in the seven-day average of coronavirus cases compared to the previous week. The CDC said 64,397 new cases were reported.

“When we see that uptick in cases...things really have a tendency to surge and surge big,” Walensky said. “I just worry that we will see the surges that we saw over the summer and the winter again.”

She pleaded with people not to relax coronavirus precautions, such as wearing face masks and practicing social distancing.

Several states, including Texas, Michigan, Louisiana, and Mississippi, have dropped or eased mandatory COVID-19 restrictions, though some governors encouraged voluntary compliance with the precautions, The Associated Press reported.

“We have come such a long way,” Walensky said. “Please hold on a little while longer. I so badly want to be done. I know you all so badly want to be done. We are almost there but not quite yet.”

Walensky’s warning came on the same day the CDC released promising data on how well two-dose COVID-19 vaccines can prevent infections in real-world settings.

This story was originally published March 29, 2021 at 11:44 AM with the headline "CDC director says she feels ‘impending doom’ as COVID cases again rise. ‘I’m scared’."