The nation is at "another critical point" in the response to the coronavirus pandemic, but "nobody is waving the white flag" and surrendering in the fight to control the disease, Adm. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary of Health and Human Services, said Wednesday.
Giroir, a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and the nation's "testing czar," also emphasized on NBC's "Today" that COVID-19 case numbers are definitely climbing, and not only as a result of increased testing, which President Donald Trump claimed as recently as Monday on Twitter.
"Cases are going up in most states across the country, hospitalizations are up," said Giroir. "We're still tens of thousands of hospitalizations below where we were in July. That is rising, and we're starting to see an increase in deaths."
However, "we know" how to control the virus through measures like wearing masks, avoiding crowds, and washing hands, he said.
Some 36 million tests have been sent out to states so people who are either symptomatic or asymptomatic can be identified as having the virus, said Giroir, and the fall spike is being taken "very seriously."
But if more action such as wearing masks isn't taken, it could force local or state officials to have more "draconian measures," as cases will continue to climb unless a change is made.
Americans are listening, he said, as mask-wearing is up nationwide.
"We will have a vaccine," said Giroir. "We will have a safe and effective vaccine. It may be this month, it may be next month, it may be in December. This will not go on forever. The vaccine will end the virus pandemic."
Meanwhile, more testing is needed, he said, as "we're only using about a third of our nation's testing capacity now."
"We have surged in eight different cities," said Giroir. "We're talking with six more locations for next week to actually surge, sometimes door to door."
Hospitalizations and deaths are also going up, he said, but "we can reverse that. The American people can make a difference."
"Americans have defeated this in July and August," said Giroir. "We're entering the winter period. There are more chances to spread, particularly indoors and at small gatherings, but we can stop that until we get that safe and effective vaccine, which is around the corner."