美国新冠日均增长5万+例！PBS专访福奇：美国疫情得到了很好的控制，但新冠大流行并没有结束！（附视频&对话稿）

根据美国约翰·霍普金斯大学公布的数据，截至当地时间26日，全美已累计报告新冠肺炎确诊病例超8100万，近7天日均增长53000多例，死亡人数近百万。但最新的研究结果显示，这一数字与美国真正的新冠感染人数相去甚远。美国疾控中心（CDC）当地时间26日发布的报告称，美国已有约58%的人口具有因感染过新冠病毒而产生的抗体——如果以美国约3.3亿的人口来计算，该国已有超过1.9亿人感染过新冠病毒。

当地时间4月27日，美国白宫首席医疗顾问福奇博士表示，新冠疫情在美国得到了很好的控制，但大流行并没有结束，接下来的挑战是如何继续改善这一状况。

福奇在接受美联社采访时说："我们正处于大流行的不同时刻。在经历了残酷的冬季激增之后，我们现在已经减速并过渡到更加可控的阶段。但这绝不意味着大流行已经结束。”

福奇的言论反映了美国卫生当局如何应对大流行的下一阶段，即如何使新冠肺炎病例和住院病例保持在可控的范围内，并学会与仍然在变异和不可预测的新冠病毒共存。

福奇说，美国似乎已经走出了新冠大流行最猛烈的阶段，现在已经不再有每日新增90万感染、成千上万住院和死亡病例的景象。

他说："我们比一年前要好得多。但我们的脚还不能离开刹车踏板。我们仍然可能会发现新的变异毒株，这可能将导致新一波潜在激增。”

另据CNN报道，最新数据显示，尽管全美新增病例走低，但当前的数值仍然显著高于去年夏天。另外，包括纽约州在内，一些地区的疫情又呈抬头趋势。而在死亡病例方面，虽然当前数据同样低于疫情的绝大多数时候，但仍然比疫情暴发前每年流感的死亡人数要多得多。

JUDY WOODRUFF: Let's look now at the latest news on COVID and what is needed now. 

I spoke earlier today with President Biden's chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci,  as part of the upcoming Crosscut Festival for KCTS 9. That is the PBS station in Seattle. 

Our full discussion can be seen during the festival, which runs May 3 to the 7th. 

Dr. Fauci, thank you very much for joining us. So much to talk about. 

But I want to start with new data that we are learning about how many Americans have been  infected with the COVID virus. Among all Americans -- and I think this dates back to  February -- 60 percent, almost, had been infected, and among children, 75 percent had been infected. 

First of all, were you surprised by these numbers? And, second of all,  does this, in your mind, change the way there should be an official response to the virus?  DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, Chief Medical Adviser to President Biden: Well, I wasn't terribly  surprised, Judy, because we have been having this virus around now for almost two-and-a-half years. 

So the idea that, if you look at the serology, which is the antibody test in the blood which  determines whether you have been infected or not, it's not surprising  that you have that proportion of the population. 

I think it's important for people to realize that, because, although immunity  following infection and recovery does not last indefinitely, it does give a degree,  variable degrees of protection against severe disease if you get reinfected. 

So, if you add up the people who've been infected, plus the people who've  been vaccinated and hopefully boosted, you have a rather substantial proportion  of the United States population that has some degree of immunity that's residual,  either residual from prior infection, or hopefully people who are getting vaccinated and boosted. 

We know we have 66 percent  of the total population has been vaccinated, and about half of them have been boosted. 

JUDY WOODRUFF: In connection with all this, Dr. Fauci, we live in the Northeast  of the United States. We are hearing about more cases here, including prominent members  of the public, including lawmakers, the vice president of the United States. 

Many of them are having mild or no symptoms at all. What does that  tell us about how many more Americans, who aren't getting tested as regularly  as these individuals are, who may just be walking around with COVID, but not aware of it?  DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: I think he just hit the nail on the head there, Judy, because I am  virtually certain that we are undercounting the number of infections, just for the same reason. 

There are many people, people who I know myself, friends and others, who get infected,  who do an antigen test, don't get many symptoms, but don't report it to anyone. 

So, the fact is, there are infections that are not getting centrally reported. 

So I do believe that there's an undercount. We should do better than that. We should probably  be able to track them much better. But the good news is the one that you mentioned,  and you're absolutely correct. The relationship or ratio between hospitalizations and infections is  such that we're not seeing a comparable increase proportionately of hospitalizations, unlike what  was happening with Delta when, as the cases went way up, the hospitalizations also went way up. 

JUDY WOODRUFF: Should we have stricter reporting requirements, though, so that  the country can just keep better track of how many cases there are?  DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: Yes, I would like to see that, I would like to see a way where, when you get an  antigen test, somehow or other, you can put it in an app and just get some way of recording it. 

It would give us a much better feel and a bunch of better understanding of the scope of any rebound. 

Even though it's a mild rebound, you really like to know what the accurate counting of cases is. 

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, for those who are having symptoms now, Dr. Fauci there's  been a fair amount of discussion lately about a treatment, a drug called Paxlovid. 

And I know there are generic names for it as well, a fair amount of confusion about who should be  taking it, who shouldn't. There's a sense that it's not available to many people who need it. 

It does require a doctor's prescription. 

We're told that it is available, but it's not reaching everyone who needs it. 

What should we know about this drug?  DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: We are under utilizing what is a highly effective therapy. 

In clinical trials, when you looked at the proportion of individuals who were protected  from getting on and progressing to hospitalizations, it was close to 90 percent. 

So we need to do more. There are a lot of doses available. We have sites where you can,  as we say, test to treat, which means you can come into a place, get tested,  and, if you are tested, immediately get put on therapy, if they're eligible. 

We have ordered tens of thousands more of these of these drugs, namely Paxlovid. And we're having  sites where there are now -- we started off with 20,000 sites have Paxlovid available. We're  increasing that to 30,000, with the aim of going to 40,000, essentially doubling the number of  sites where you can get it. And I mean pharmacies and clinics and places like that, as well as  something that's important that you alluded to is educating the public and the health care providers  that this is something that is available and that should be much more widely used. 

JUDY WOODRUFF: Dr. Fauci, let me broaden this out and ask you. 

Here we are. It's the end of April. It's the  spring of 2022. How close are we to the end of this pandemic?  DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: Well, that's an unanswerable question, for the following reason. And I don't  want to be evasive about it, but let me tell you why I'm giving you that answer, Judy. 

We are certainly right now in this country out of the pandemic phase. Namely, we don't have  900,000 new infections a day and tens and tens and tens of  thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths. We are at a low level right now. 

So, if you're saying, are we out of the pandemic phase in this country,  we are. What we hope to do, I don't believe -- and I have spoken about this widely -- we're  not going to eradicate this virus. If we can keep that level very low,  and intermittently vaccinate people -- and I don't know how often that would have to be, Judy. 

That might be every year, that might be longer, in order to keep that level low. 

But, right now, we are not in the pandemic phase in this country. Pandemic means a widespread,  throughout the world, infection that spreads rapidly among people. 

So, if you look at the global situation, there's no doubt this pandemic is still ongoing. 

JUDY WOODRUFF: Dr. Anthony Fauci, thank you very much. 

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: Thank you, Judy. Good to be with you.