Tag Archives: Anthony Fauci

medical news, national news

Dr. Fauci: Go ahead and criticize us for doing ‘too much’

Dr. Anthony Fauci was a marathon man today, appearing on all five major news-talk shows while explaining what the federal government is doing to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

There he was: on “Meet the Press,” on “This Week,” on “Fox News Sunday,” on “Face the Nation,” and on “State of the Union.”

I caught his recitation on the first two mentioned in this brief post.

Fauci said a lot. One thing stands out. He wants the government to do all it can, even if it means it’s doing “too much.”

That’s all right, Dr. Fauci said. He said it’s OK to criticize him for doing too much. He would rather take that heat than be criticized for not doing enough to battle the potentially deadly disease.

The nation’s pre-eminent epidemiologist is sounding the bell to which the nation must answer. He urges us to “hunker down,” he warns that a vaccine is not around the corner, as some in the administration have suggested, Fauci wants us to wash our hands, keep our hands away from our face. He said today that he would support a national quarantine for as long as it takes.

If that’s too much and Americans want to criticize him, then Dr. Fauci said, in so many words: Bring it on!

medical news

Dr. Fauci is everywhere, which is a good thing

Holy smokes, man! Every time I changed the channel this morning looking for a Sunday news show to watch, there he was: Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Trump administration’s chief medical expert dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

Fauci repeated himself, but I didn’t care. I wanted to hear more from him, given that Donald Trump cannot tell the truth about anything, even when it concerns life and death issues. So, we get to hear from the premier epidemiologist on the planet.

His primary message? We had better prepare to “hunker down” for the foreseeable future as doctors, scientists and others look for a way to mitigate the spread of the potentially deadly virus.

Hunker down, eh? Got it, doc. Will do.

My wife and I are making changes in our lifestyle. We aren’t going out nearly as much. We are staying home, not wanting to venture too close to others out there who might be, you know, infected with the disease. We’re wiping down surfaces with antiseptic wipes; things like fuel pumps, shopping carts, door handles.

This hunkering down business isn’t intended to create panic. It is intended, as I listen to Dr. Fauci, as a method of deploying what we hear as an “abundance of caution.” I am OK with that.

I also am hearing some words of hope from Fauci, who told us this morning that the new cases in China and South Korea, where this outbreak reportedly started, appear to be declining. He won’t offer that as a final word of good cheer, preferring instead to caution that there might be another spike in new cases if the Chinese and South Koreans relax their own restrictions.

Having said all that, the cases in the United States are still increasing. Forty-nine of our 50 states have reported positive tests for coronavirus; only West Virginia remains untouched — so far!

Anthony Fauci said he’s working 19 hours each day. He has no time for anything else. He said he’s trying to persuade “the boss,” meaning Donald Trump, to stop shaking hands. He wants the president to use that elbow bump to greet folks. Get with the program, Mr. President. Listen to the doctor!

As for Dr. Fauci’s ubiquitous presence, as long we’re looking for answers to this pandemic, I can’t get enough of this brilliant man.

medical news

Get tested, Mr. President!

Readers of this blog, Mr. President — and I wish you were one of them — are likely to be surprised to learn that I do not wish ill health on you while you are in office.

Therefore, I believe it is incumbent on you to take the test to determine whether your body is infected with the coronavirus that is infecting so many others around the world.

You have shaken hands with attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference who have tested positive for the virus; you have rubbed shoulders with foreign dignitaries. You are about to declare a national emergency as we all seek to cope with this pandemic. Have you failed to hear the warning issued by Dr. Anthony Fauci? He said you need to take the test. Listen to the man. He’s the world’s pre-eminent expert on this stuff!

So, there you have it. You need to test yourself and you need to determine whether you and your family should isolate yourself from others with whom you are doing the work on our behalf.

May I remind you, Mr. President, that you are part of an “at-risk” group of Americans. You are a good bit north of 70 years of age (and, hey, I am not that far behind you). Those around you tell us that you don’t get enough sleep and that you’re too busy working on the nation’s problems. It makes me say, “Hello? Sleep is essential to good presidential health … especially now that this deadly virus is striking us all across the land.”

Get the damn test, Mr. President! I am sure your position would allow your doctor to expedite delivery of the test kit, unlike what many millions of other Americans are facing if they want to be tested. But, what the heck. That’s another story for another time.

I want to know if the president of the United States is in danger of getting quite sick.

medical news, science news

Let’s stop arguing over which ailment is deadlier; it’s Covid-19

I heard him say it with my own two ears, both of which are in good working order.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the world’s leading epidemiologist, told Congress this week that the Covid-19 strain of the coronavirus that the World Health Organization has labeled a pandemic is about 10 times more lethal than influenza.

He said the mortality rate from the flu is less than half of 1 percent; the death rate from Covid-19 is about 3.5 percent.

There. Is that clear? It is to me.

Yet we hear some politicians and other doubters fall back on the raw numbers, the gross number of cases as a defense of their downplaying of the threat that Covid-19 poses to the public. Donald Trump, for one, keeps saying the flu kills more people annually than coronavirus. Yes, that is true. It’s also irrelevant.

Dr. Fauci tells us the pandemic we’re experience is going to worsen before it improves. It could worsen by a lot. Meaning that a lot more human beings are going to succumb to this illness. What’s more, they will do so more frequently than they fall victim to the flu.

I am weary of the argument. Anthony Fauci settled it for me.

Covid-19 presents the type of existential threat to our very lives than the flu ever has done.

Period. Now, let’s get to work trying to control this frightening disease.

medical news, science news

Shut up, Mr. POTUS, on the subject of ‘coronavirus’

Donald John Trump is putting millions of Americans — the folks he took an oath to protect — in dire jeopardy if they listen to his idiotic rants about his “hunch” and the coronavirus.

Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity last night that those who might have the coronavirus could just get “well” even if they go to work while infected with the highly contagious — and potentially fatal — disease.

What is this guy trying to do?

Then he disputed the World Health Organization’s view about the mortality rate among those who come down with the virus. WHO doctors suggest the rate is about 3.4 percent. Trump says it is his “hunch” that the death rate is less than that figure. His hunch? What the hell is that all about?

U.S. public health officials do not have enough testing kits to find the virus among the population. At least we have an admission of that shortfall from Vice President Pence, who went to Washington state today to assess the situation at the epicenter of the outbreak in the United States.

As for the president, he needs to stop tweeting his idiocy. He needs also to leave the topic of the coronavirus exclusively up to the health experts who are working to stem the growing concern.

Donald Trump doesn’t know a damn thing about this virus. He needs to shut his trap and let the experts do the talking.

medical news

Now the White House is censoring the top docs in the world? Huh … ?

What in the name of science denial is going on at the White House?

The nation is being threatened with a potentially monstrous medical pandemic — the coronavirus — and the president of the United States wants the world’s top immunologist to pass all public comments through the White House before it’s made public.

I refer to Dr. Anthony Fauci, someone who has worked for seven presidential administrations. The man is a medical genius. He is trying to offer candid assessments of the threat of the virus that is sweeping through Asia and is threatening to do the same through every other continent on Earth … maybe even in Antarctica.

He stood before the nation the other day and said without hesitation that he cannot predict what the coronavirus is going to do to the United States. Then Donald Trump took the microphone and essentially contradicted him, saying that everything is under control. He predicted — and I cringed when I heard him use the word — there might be a “miraculous” discovery to cure the virus.

Trump is saying that a vaccine is just over the horizon; the medical gurus say “not so fast,” there ain’t a cure to be found just yet.

Meanwhile, the president put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the coronavirus mission. Pence is, shall we say, a noted science denier. He has demonstrated little tolerance or understanding of the complexities of crises such as what we’re facing at this moment.

He wants instead to protect the president’s backside, of which he has shown quite an ability.

Meanwhile, the world is engaging in something close to panic. The White House response is to censor the brilliant medical minds who are seeking answers — and developing updates that they need to give to an increasingly anxious public.

medical news

Why not let Dr. Fauci take the lead on coronavirus fight?

I don’t feel much safer now that Vice President Mike Pence has been put in charge of the fight against the threatened spread of the coronavirus.

I wish instead that Donald Trump would have handed that duty over to a fellow who is immensely qualified and who has enormous stamina: Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the world’s premier immunologists and the current head of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases.

There he was, spelling out today in detail the problems facing the nation when — not merely if — the disease spreads in the United States. Then the president took the podium and declared that Mike Pence would lead the fight.

It made me go … huh?

Pence is claiming credit for enacting a health care program in Indiana, where he served as governor before joining the Republican ticket in 2016. Trump brought up the Indiana health care plan, calling it a model for other states to follow.

That’s great. But … I keep circling back to the actual and practical expertise standing near the VP on the White House podium in the form of Dr. Fauci.

He got his medical degree from Cornell University. He is a noted international expert on infectious disease.

I had the high honor of attending the HIV/AIDS international conference in Bangkok in 2004 along with other editorial writers and editors. We received an audience with Dr. Fauci, who was there representing the Bush administration and its own HIV/AIDS initiative. Fauci bowled us over!

I wish the vice president well as he leads this effort. My advice to the VP? Keep the phone line to Dr. Fauci open at all times.