200,000 deaths: A grim milestone as fall approaches

 The United States has crossed a sobering milestone of 200,000 deaths from the novel coronavirus.

This morning, Dr. Anthony Fauci called the number a “stunning” death toll.

Fauci also said the nation’s current baseline of 35,000-40,000 cases a day is too high. And it comes as fears mount of a grueling fall and winter if we don’t take Covid-19 more seriously.

"We may be in for a very apocalyptic fall, I'm sorry to say," said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

"And it's happening because we're forcing schools to reopen in areas of high transmission. We're forcing colleges to reopen, and we don't have the leadership, nationally, telling people to wear masks and to social distance and do all the things we need to do." 

Despite slow, steady progress after an abysmal July, daily new cases have once again soared above 40,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

All eyes are on the flu season. There’s some hope that the US will experience a season much like Australia, which had an almost non-existent flu season. The thought is some Covid-19 prevention measures -- such as masks and social distancing -- may have played a role.