CDC Director Warns This Fall Could Be The Worst Ever For Public Health

The U.S. now has more than 5 million cases and 166,700 deaths from the coronavirus. And with flu season approaching, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Wednesday that things could get a lot more grim.

Robert Redfield said in an interview with WebMD that if Americans don't follow public health guidance, the country could be facing "the worst fall, from a public health perspective, we've ever had."

"We're going to have COVID in the fall, and we're going to have flu in the fall," he told John Whyte, chief medical officer at WebMD. "And either one of those by themselves can stress certain hospital systems."

Redfield called on Americans to wear a mask, social distance, wash their hands and "be smart about crowds" in order to bring the outbreak under control.

Beyond that, he said there's another step people should take to protect themselves and others: get the flu vaccine.

While less than 50% of Americans did so last year, Redfield said his goal is to get that number up to 65%. He added the CDC has purchased an extra 10 million doses of the vaccine this year.