"You've got to be realistic," Fauci told CNN's Chris Cuomo on "Prime Time.".
"And you've got to understand that you don't make the timeline, the virus makes the timeline.
So you've got to respond, in what you see happen.
And if you keep seeing this acceleration, it doesn't matter what you say.
One week, two weeks, three weeks -- you've got to go with what the situation on the ground is.".
His comments appear at odds with President Donald Trump's growing desire to ease the public health guidelines that have shuttered businesses and kept workers at home as the virus has spread.
"But you know, you can't make an arbitrary decision until you see what you're dealing with. »