Scott Gottlieb explained why he's optimistic about Merck's Covid antiviral pill after the drugmaker asked the Food and Drug Administration Monday to authorize its pill to treat people with mild to moderate Covid symptoms. .

"We've seen sharp declines in the south, where delta's largely run its course, so cases are coming down very sharply in populous states like Texas and Florida, but you're seeing pretty dense epidemics in the midwest and plain states, and we still don't know how the northeast and the northern states are going to fare," Gottlieb said. .

"I still think that there's a delta wave that's going to sweep across the northern states, as well in the northeast, it's not going to be nearly as dense as what you saw in the south, but we still are probably in store for more spread," Gottlieb said