Well, folks, it's that time of the year again. And yes, I'm talking about a bunch of tamales and presents, but I'm also talking about COVID.

Sadly, cases are rising again, and it's just one part of this winter's tripledemic.

The jump in COVID cases and hospitalizations is about 40 percent and adds to the increasing numbers of flu and RSV.

Earlier this month, the CDC and other public health agencies recommended that major cities,

including Los Angeles, start reaching for masks. Again, will this ever end?

This is the sort of question that Dr. Anthony Fauci has been answering one way or another

for decades. I have 54 years of experience as a scientist at the NIH, 38 years of experience

as the director of the Institute. And I've had the pleasure and the privilege of advising seven

presidents of the United States.

But he's about to end that street.

In just eight days, Fauci's going to be stepping down from his multiple leadership roles.

So before he ends his tenure, we want to get some final words of advice from the man himself.

I'm Gustav Ariano. You're listening to The Times, essential news from the LA Times.

It's Friday, December 23, 2022.

Today, we hear from Dr. Fauci about COVID, his career, the future of public health, and one of his favorite Catholic saints.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, welcome to the Times.

Thank you very much. It's good to be with you.

So in just about a week, you're going to be stepping down from your current roles,

but before you go, I have some questions about COVID. Of course, COVID.

Pretty soon here, we're going to be entering our fourth year of this pandemic. Are you worried about

the collective health of the nation right now? Well, first of all, we're doing much, much better now

than we were doing a year ago where we were having literally 800,000 cases a day and three to

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