Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, said early Thursday that he believes coronavirus cases could be “way down” by the time the elections come in the first week of November. 

“It’s up to us. It’s really in our hands. I really do believe based on the data we see in other countries and in the United States, in states and cities and counties that have done it correctly, that if we pay attention to the fundamental tenets of infection control and diminution of transmission, we could be way down in November. It is entirely conceivable,” Fauci said on CNN’s “New Day.” 

“It isn’t inevitable that we need to be way up there as we get towards [the] election. And I feel that very strongly, if we do things correctly, and we start right now to do that. Everyone, all states, cities, have to pull together to do that.”

“If we pay attention to the fundamental tenants of infection control and diminution of transmission, we could be way down in November. It is entirely conceivable,” Dr. Anthony Fauci says about the pandemic during the election.https://t.co/yqI273W3bz pic.twitter.com/aNIiLmuNd0

— New Day (@NewDay) August 6, 2020

The remarks come amid a dip in new coronavirus cases after alarming spikes across the country. The country has seen between 48,266 and 52,265 new cases per day this week after hitting a high of more than 77,000 new cases on July 17, according to the COVID Tracking Project. 

Many of the most serious resurgences in the coronavirus in June and July occurred in states that had adopted aggressive reopening plans, such as Arizona, California and Florida. However, many states hit pause on their reopenings due to the spike in cases and have reimplemented certain business closures and other measures to help blunt the pandemic’s spread. 

Concerns over the pandemic are also looming large ahead of the November elections, with 58 percent of registered voters saying in a Politico-Morning Consult poll released Wednesday that they are “very” or “somewhat” concerned about voting in person, while only 38 percent said they are “not that concerned” or “not concerned at all.”