Appearing Thursday on MSNBC, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Americans against traveling for the Christmas holiday due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A partial transcript is as follows: 

ANDREA MITCHELL: Should people now cancel their travel plans for Christmas?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: I think they’re going to have to make individual decisions, but I think we need to, as a nation, seriously consider the things that we in the public health arena have been talking about, of minimizing travel to the extent possible. Sometimes it’s absolutely necessary, but to the extent possible, don’t travel; don’t congregate together. I know how difficult that is. We all have a strong degree of empathy knowing — and myself included — about wanting to be with your family, wanting to have a large Christmas dinner with family and friends over. Right now, that just should not be done. To the best of our capabilities we should avoid travel and avoid congregate settings.