CDC Director Warns of ‘Impending Doom’ as Red States Like Texas, Florida Thrive

Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), issued a dark warning Monday, explaining that she is experiencing a “recurring feeling” of “impending doom” as the U.S. experiences an uptick in Chinese coronavirus cases. All the while, however, red states such as Texas and Florida continue to thrive, besting blue states such as New York in terms of new cases of the virus.

“When I first started at CDC about two months ago I made a promise to you: I would tell you the truth even if it was not the news we wanted to hear,” Walensky said during Monday’s briefing.

“I’m going to pause here, I’m going to lose the script, and I’m going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom,” she continued, telling reporters she is “scared.”

“We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are and so much reason for hope, but right now I’m scared,” she said amid data suggesting the U.S. is experiencing an uptick in weekly cases and hospitalizations.

“What we’ve seen over the last week or so is a steady rise of cases,” Walensky explained. “And when we see that uptick in cases, what we have seen before is that things really have a tendency to surge and surge big.”

The seven-day average of new cases is around 60,000 per day, up from the 53,570 average seen in mid-March. Walensky said she is worried the U.S. will experience surges reminiscent of those seen last summer and winter.

“I’m speaking today not necessarily as your CDC director and not only as your CDC director, but as a wife, as a mother, as a daughter, to ask you to just please hold on a little while longer,” she continued.

Meanwhile, states that have reopened are continuing to fare better than “model” blue states such as New York in terms of new cases of the virus. Both Florida and Texas do not have mask mandates in place and have lifted restrictions on businesses and are continuing to report fewer new cases of the virus than the Empire State. Texas has experienced a decline in cases since lifting the restrictions over two weeks ago.

Texas reported 91.3 cases per 100,000 in the last seven days, or 26,486 new cases, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) March 28 data. Florida, which never had a mask mandate in place, has reported 158.1 cases per 100,000 in the last seven days, or 33,953 cases total.

As Breitbart News has routinely noted, CDC data excludes New York City data from the rest of the state. Even so, it shows New York reporting 233.1 cases per 100,000 in the last seven days, or 25,769 cases. New York City has reported 424.9 cases per 100,000 in the last week, or 35,689 cases. Combined, the state has reported 61,458 cases in the last seven days — 34,972 more than Texas and 27,505 more than the Sunshine State in the same time frame.

During a speech marking the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic, President Biden warned the country could have to “reinstate restrictions to get back on track” if Americans do not stay vigilant or if the conditions change.