Fauci told ABC's "Good Morning America" there's a precedent with other infections like influenza that "when the virus gets warmer that the virus goes down in its ability to replicate, to spread."
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But Fauci added "having said that, one should not assume that we are going to be rescued by a change in the weather. You must assume that the virus will continue to do its thing. If we get some help from the weather, so be it, fine. But I don't think we need to assume that."
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He was asked about the New York Times story that research indicates the coronavirus that began circulating in New York in mid-February came mainly from Europe, not Asia.
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"I think that's probably correct," Fauci said. He notes that "Europe became the epicenter pretty quickly after China really exploded with their cases."