Fauci Warns ‘Stay Away’ From Large New Year’s Eve Parties

NEW YORK - DECEMBER 31: Crowds gather in Times Square on New Years Eve, December 31, 2012 in New York City. — Photo by andykazie/Deposit Photos

As COVID cases surge because of the Omicron variant, Dr. Anthony Fauci says you may want to “stay away” from large New Year’s Eve gatherings.

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, appeared on CNN Monday and urged viewers to skip big celebrations.

“I have been telling people consistently that if you’re vaccinated and boosted, you can have a family setting in the home with family and relatives,” he said. “But when you’re talking about a New Year’s Eve party — we have 30, 40, 50 people celebrating, you do not know the status of their vaccination — I would recommend strongly stay away from that this year.”

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One of the largest gatherings in the U.S. is still on, the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square.

Visitors will have to show proof of full vaccination before entering the area and the celebration has been scaled back to 15,000 people, significantly less than the usual pre-pandemic crowd, WNBC-TV in New York reports.

Some international cities are canceling their large New Year’s Eve gatherings, including Athens, Berlin, London and Paris, according to CNN.

The U.S. currently leads the world in the daily average number of new infections, with over 200,000 new cases reported across the nation each day, according to Reuters.

Watch Fauci’s interview below.