Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty As numbers of cases and deaths decline across the country, many people are tempted to let their guard down, so to speak, when it comes to using masks and social distancing to control the spread of the virus. According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, this can actually prolong the pandemic. "When you see a plateau at a level as high as 60,000 cases a day, that is a very vulnerable time to have a surge, to go back up. That's what exactly happened in Europe," Dr. Fauci told CNN on Sunday. "The younger people, particularly, stopped wearing masks. All of a sudden, you have a surge that went right back up."