5 important points from Dr. Anthony Fauci’s interview on ‘The Daily’
Fauci discussed the failure of early testing, his short term concerns, and the threat of resurgence.
With the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic ongoing, Dr. Anthony Fauci made an appearance on “The Daily,” a New York Times podcast, to discuss the crisis and provide his perspective.
Fauci, who has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, is one of the recognizable faces of the United States’ response to the novel coronavirus.
Here are a few important points from Fauci’s interview:
The timing of when he realized it would be a ‘public health nightmare’
The initial discovery of a novel coronavirus occurred in China in January. Very quickly, it was clear to Fauci that this had the potential to become a global problem.
“I think it relates to its efficiency of transmissibility,” Fauci explained. “The thing that rang the bell for me, that made me say, ‘Uh oh, we really have a problem here,’ is when the coronavirus was first identified in early January, it’s clear that this was something that had jumped from an animal species in Wuhan, China, to humans. So that was the first red flag for me.
“Then as soon as I found out — which was literally days to weeks later — that it was really circulating in China, likely for several weeks, it became clear to me that we could potentially be dealing with a global catastrophe,” Fauci continued. “And that was somewhere in the middle of January when it was clear that China was seeing not only extremely efficient transmissibility, but also a disturbing degree of morbidity and mortality. Those two things together are the things that are really the making for a public health nightmare. And that’s exactly when I realized we were in really bad trouble.”
His thoughts on the failure of early testing
One of the major issues that hindered the early U.S. response was a lack of testing. Specifically, there was a lack of availability and access to testing.
“It obviously was a problem,” said Fauci. “I perceived it as a problem early on. Unfortunately, the systems that were originally set up and the relationship between the CDC and the public health community in the state and local level was really not geared for the massive type of testing that would be needed, that would embrace and require the participation of the private sector, the companies that do the type of lab testing that you and I get when we go to a regular doctor’s appointment. It was not suited for that.
Fauci pointed out that testing is finally beginning to reach the levels that the nation requires.
“It is right now, today, ramping up to essentially make the private sector the major driving force of the testing. But you’re absolutely correct. Back then, early on, that was not in place and that’s unfortunate.”
His typical day in the ‘war’
Given his importance to the national response, Fauci said he has been working nonstop for months in multiple capacities. When asked if it was like managing a wartime effort, he concurred.
“You’re right, we are in a war,” Fauci noted. “I mean I think this is exactly what generals or leaders in violent combat, wars, feel. It’s an impossible day. There’s so much to do, it’s like drinking out of a firehose.”
He explained his daily routine.
“You get up, there are a lot of people who need information, which is the reason that I’m talking to you right now,” said Fauci. “There are journalists, there are congressmen, there are governors, there are legislators, there are people in the federal government that constantly need briefing.
“I’m also running a very large institute that’s responsible for making the vaccines and for developing the drugs,” Fauci continued, “so I come in for a couple of hours, get things on the right track here, and then I spend more than half my day at the White House with various meetings, the task force meeting. I’m with the vice president for hours at a time. I see the president himself at least an hour a day, maybe more. And then I go back home and I have a thousand things to do, and then you’re lucky if get to bed at midnight, then you get up at four, five in the morning.”
What he’s most concerned with right now
“My biggest concern is that we get a 30-day extension of the guideline mitigation,” Fauci said of what he’s worried about in the short term. “We’ve got to get the American people to really appreciate that it is absolutely critical, to the best of their ability, to abide by those recommendations because we know from experience in other countries — and our own experience thus far — that mitigation does have an impact on whether or not we’re going to have X number of cases and deaths, or X minus whatever the number is. It’s really in our hands. I want to make sure that we get the American public to abide by that.”
Looking farther into the future, Fauci highlighted another warning.
“Also, another concern is even if you mitigate down to the lowest possible number of deaths, it’s not going to disappear,” he explained. “This isn’t something that’s just going to go away. The minute you pull back on mitigation, there’s the risk of rebound. One of the things that concerns me is that we should be prepared to adequately address the inevitable rebound that we will see once you pull back on the restrictions and the mitigations. That’s of concern.”
The threat of resurgence months from now
When asked about the future, when restrictions can potentially be lifted, Fauci voiced an important aspect of disease mitigation that he wants the public to be aware of.
“I believe that in a few months, hopefully, that we’ll get [coronavirus] under control that it won’t be as frightening as it is now,” he explained. “But it will not be an absent threat, it will be a threat that is there. And the threat of resurgence will be something that we need to make sure that we’re prepared for.
“The ultimate weapon against a resurgence is a vaccine. But before we get a vaccine, we want to make sure that we have the wherewithal that when we turn the corner and that curve goes down to practically nothing that we realize and are not naive in thinking that the threat is no longer there, because there will be — as long as there’s virus circulating the world — there will be a threat of resurgence if we’re not properly prepared.”
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