LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- As students across country get ready to return to school, the nation's top infectious disease expert warns the worst could still be ahead for Kentuckiana.
Across the U.S., a federal report reveals 21 states now in the "red zone." Those are hot-spots with at least 100 confirmed new cases per 100,000 people.
Dr. David Skorton, president and CEO of Association of American Medical Colleges issued a blunt warning.
"If we don't do something to change our course, we will have multiple hundreds of thousands of deaths in this country," he said.
Dr. Eric Yazel.
Clark County Health Officer Dr. Eric Yazel said that vacations have been a problem.
"There's a lot of travel to some of the other states that have become hot-spots, your Florida, Texas and things like that," he said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, a lead member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said, "We're starting to see that in some of the states now, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana."
Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee are not considered "red zone" states but all have troubling signs of a new outbreak, according to health experts.
Yazel said, "We've been concerned, kind of the whole month of July, really."
It's a potential surge being closely watched by Clark County officials, including Jeffersonville Mayor Mike Moore.
Mayor Mike Moore.
"There are numbers that I see coming at us that are a bit alarming," he said.
Moore said that's why he has shut down popular after-school programs at places such as the Envision Center and Nachand Fieldhouse.
"I just thought, we are going to have several hundred kids, thousands of kids going to school now, I didn't see the need to keep city employees in a facility for after school programs," the mayor said.
Fauci said, "If you look at the deaths as they're occurring right now -- about 1,000 per day -- unless we get our arms around this and get it suppressed, we are going to have further suffering and further death."
Fauci also repeated what we can all do to help slow the spread of the virus.
"The fundamental things of avoiding crowds, physical separation, universal wearing of masks, closing the bars, hand hygiene, those things matter," he said.
Moore said he will continue to follow the governor's lead and recommendations, but he also hopes the latest numbers are a wake-up call.
"Stop talking about all these crazy conspiracy ideas," he said. "This virus is real. It is killing people."
Copyright 2020 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
