Fauci warns US could face MORE COVID lockdowns though latest variant is less serious than Omicron

America's top infectious-disease expert warned that the country could face more COVID-19 lockdowns if cases go up once again due to the latest variant, even as the most cautious begin to shrug off their virus fears once-and-for-all.

Dr Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease and adviser to President Joe Biden, said easing restrictions, the waning protection from vaccines and the rise of the BA.2 subvariant around the world could bring on another wave of rising infections to the U.S. 

'If in fact we do see a turnaround and a resurgence, we have to be able to pivot and go back to any degree of mitigation that is commensurate with what the situation is,' Fauci said in a CNN interview on Thursday. 

'We can't just say, 'We're done. We're going to move on.' We've got to be able to be flexible because we're dealing with a dynamic situation.'