Lauren StephensonPresident Biden is urging governors to reinstate mask mandates and pause reopenings as the country sees COVID cases rise.
He's also pleading with Americans not to let their guard down.
"We still are in a war with this deadly virus and we're bolstering our defenses, but this war is far from won." he said. "Now's not the time to let down. Now's not the time to celebrate. It is time to do what we do best as a country, our duty, our jobs, take care of one another and fight this to the finish."
The president spoke hours after the head of the CDC sounded the alarm about the potential for a fourth wave of the virus.
New cases are up 10% over the previous 7-day average. Hospitalizations and deaths are also rising.
"I'm going to reflect on the recurring feeling I have of impending doom. 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," said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. "So I'm speaking today, not necessarily as your CDC director, 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. I so badly want to be done. I know you all so badly want to be done. We are just almost there, but not quite yet."
