Dr. Anthony Fauci has predicted that deaths in COVID-19 will begin to fall this winter after increases across the country caused by the Delta variant.

In an interview with Greta Van Susteren, which will be broadcast on Sunday, the White House chief physician was asked if he predicts there will be another wave of cases next winter, the hill reported.

“Fortunately, right now, over the last few weeks, we have seen a turnaround in the slope by going down in both cases and hospitalizations. Deaths are still up, but it’s really flat, so it’s a lagging indicator, ”Fauci said.

“I strongly suspect you will start to see the deaths fall similar to the hospitalizations; “How fast they go down, and how thoroughly they go down, will depend a lot on a number of circumstances, which will be affected by things like the colder weather, people doing things indoors,” he continued.

Fauci urged Americans to wear masks in crowded environments even when vaccinated and outdoors.

“When you have a lot of infection in the community, even if you are vaccinated, when you are not at home, but outside in the parish environment in public, wearing masks, I think it would be very cautious,” he said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said deaths have been declining over the past three weeks, falling from a seven-day rolling average of 1,767 a day on September 15 to 1,418 on October 7.

The United States reached the grim milestone of 700,000 virus-related deaths earlier this month.