Anthony Fauci, the public face of US' COVID-19 response, handing on baton

Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert for 38 years who became the face of the US' COVID-19 response, announced on Monday that he will resign from his position in December.

The 81-year-old Fauci said he intended to leave to "pursue the next chapter" of his career, devoting himself to traveling, writing and encouraging young people to enter the government service. "We're in a pattern now. If somebody says, 'You'll leave when we don't have COVID anymore', then I will be 105. I think we're going to be living with this," Fauci told Politico in an interview.

According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US now has about 90,000 COVID-19 cases daily, but the number might be higher because private tests are not reported. New deaths are averaging about 400 a day. The US has had the world's highest death toll attributed to COVID-19 at 1,035,469.