The comments to a US Senate committee hearing on the virus came as at least 17 states have paused or rolled back their reopening plans in response to a surge in new infections.
State and local leaders have said case rates have been rising in much of the country, driven in part by gatherings, both in homes and in places like bars — which some experts have called the perfect breeding ground for the virus.
The rethinking of how to safely reopen the US comes as 36 states have showed an upward trend in average new daily cases — an increase of at least 10% — over the last seven days, as of Tuesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins.
These states are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Two states saw average daily cases decline more than 10% over those seven days: New Jersey and Rhode Island.
