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Fauci said he and Birx \"made the point\" in the call with governors that these states need to take push residents to wear masks, avoid crowds, avoid the bars and wash hands.

\"If we do that, hopefully we'll prevent multiple other states from becoming just like the southern states,\" he said.

Fauci's warning comes after case counts were on the rise this summer, particularly in places like Texas, Florida and Arizona. The U.S. death count on Wednesday hit 150,000, according to a count by Johns Hopkins University.

In his interview, Fauci said Asian and European countries have done better to get transmission rates under control in part because they were so firm in shutting down this spring. Fauci has estimated that only about half of the U.S. stayed home, allowing the virus to continue infecting people at exponential rates and overwhelming many hospitals, particularly across the South.

The current U.S. rate of 50,000 to 60,000 a day is \"still not optimal,\" he said.

\"PHOTO:
Kevin Dietsch/Pool via Reuters, FILE
PHOTO: Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., June 30, 2020.
>

On schools, Fauci -- whose daughter is a teacher -- reiterated his position that everything possible should be done to reopen schools but that doing so might not be realistic in areas where the virus is raging.

\"I don't think there's gonna be a one-size-fits-all here,\" he said. \"I think we got to be careful with the main thought being, we want to try as best as possible to get the children back to school.\"

When asked about his own fitness regimen, Fauci, who turns 80 this December, said he still likes to run despite a work schedule that goes well into the night. He said he typically gets up at 5 a.m. every morning, grabs juice or eggs and will drink two \"very strong\" double espressos as he tackles his email.

He says he often works well into the night.

\"Sleep is the one thing that's really suffered in all this,\" he said.

What to know about the coronavirus:

Tune into ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC News Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full ABC News team, including the latest news, context and analysis.

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