Fauci made the comments in an interview with the Washington Post, noting that over the holidays "I'm going to be with my wife — period."

"The Christmas holiday is a special holiday for us because Christmas Eve is my birthday. And Christmas Day is Christmas Day." Fauci said, adding "And [my daughters] are not going to come home … That's painful."

Fauci urged that Christmas get togethers must be curbed because "We have a big problem. Look at the numbers — the numbers are really quite dramatic."

"Stay at home as much as you can, keep your interactions to the extent possible to members of the same household," he added.

"This cannot be business as usual this Christmas because we're already in a very difficult situation, and we're going to make it worse, if we don't do something about it," Fauci further declared.

Fauci also complained that the "independent spirit in the United States of people not wanting to comply with public health measures has certainly hurt us a bit."

"There are people in various parts of the country who still believe that [COVID-19] is a hoax, that it's fake - even when in their own state the hospitals have been overrun with patients in the hospital beds and in the intensive care unit," Fauci said, adding "That's very unusual to see a situation like that, but that is what is going on in this country."