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Dr. Anthony Fauci said he will not be celebrating Christmas with his family next month, but is “looking forward” to a “really great” holiday season next year.

“If the surge takes a turn of continuing to go up and you have the sustained greater than 100,000 infections a day and 1,300 deaths per day and the count keeps going up and up … I don’t see it being any different during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays than during Thanksgiving,” he told USA TODAY in an interview published Friday.

“For my own family, I’m saying we had a really great Thanksgiving and Christmas last year,” he added. We’re looking forward to a really great Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2021,” he said. “Let’s now make the best of the situation and show our love and affection for people by keeping them safe.”

The remarks come amid Centers for Disease Control forecasts predicting a total of 294,000 to 321,000 American deaths related to the coronavirus by Dec. 19, an increase from just more than 264,000 as of Nov. 27, one day after Thanksgiving. The upper band of that projection would constitute an increase of roughly 22 percent over a span of three weeks. More than 13 million Americans have contracted the coronavirus to date.

Fauci, the 79-year-old chief of the federal government’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, previously called on Americans to avoid gathering for Thanksgiving, in addition to discouraging professional sports and urging Americans to refrain from shaking hands.

The post Fauci Says Christmas Cancelled for His Family: 'Looking Forward' to 'Really Great Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2021' first appeared on Mediaite.