US President Donald Trump finds warning on reopening states by Dr. Anthony Fauci “not an acceptable answer.” The health expert says reopening could lead to more coronavirus cases.
According to Trump, he was “surprised” by Dr. Fauci’s remarks during a hearing at the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
Trump did not indicate which statements he deemed unacceptable. However, he mentioned the doctor’s opinion about reopening schools in the fall.
During the hearing, Dr. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, expressed his concern about the lack of an effective vaccine or treatment for coronavirus when schools begin to reopen.
“In this case that the idea of having treatments available or a vaccine to facilitate the reentry of students into the fall term would be something that would be a bit of a bridge too far,” he said.
“We just have to see on a step-by-step basis as we get into the period of time with the fall about reopening the schools, exactly where we will be in the dynamics of the outbreak,” he added.
"More suffering and death"
Dr. Fauci added that prematurely reopening states during the coronavirus crisis could lead to more “suffering and death.” He believes that hasty reopening of states “would almost turn the clock back rather than going forward.”
His statements came as more governors loosen their social distancing measures. Meanwhile, Trump commended some of the state leaders who are reopening businesses that closed during the crisis.
A reported asked Trump if he agreed with Dr. Fauci. The president said, “Look, he wants to play all sides of the equation.”
“I was surprised by his answer, actually” Trump said. “To me it’s not an acceptable answer, especially when it comes to schools.”
“The only thing that would be acceptable, as I said, would be professors, teachers, et cetera, over a certain age,” the president added. “Because this is a disease that attacks age, and it attacks health.”
Trump claimed that students and young children are less vulnerable to COVID-19 according to statistics.
This belief is at odds with Dr. Fauci’s view. He told Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul that “I think we better be careful that we’re not cavalier in thinking that children are completely immune to the deleterious effects” of COVID-19.
CDC criteria
The White House previously announced that governors will be the ones to decide whether to observe the guidelines set out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC prepared criteria that states should meet before they pursue a phased reopening.
The criteria include a downward trajectory in the number of “positive tests” or “documented cases” of coronavirus for two consecutive weeks. Others are ability to conduct “robust contact tracing” for people who test positive and “surveillance testing” for high-risk groups.
However, there are states who have not met these criteria yet that are reopening. This move, according to Dr. Fauci, could put lives at risk.
During the Senate hearing, Dr. Fauci emphasized that there is no guarantee that the coronavirus vaccine is actually going to be effective.
Dr. Fauci’s remarks reveal more complexities in the process of developing a vaccine.
“You can have everything you think that’s in place and you don’t induce the kind of immune response that turns out to be protective and durably protective,” Fauci said of a vaccine.
“So one of the big unknowns is, will it be effective? Given the way the body responds to viruses of this type, I’m cautiously optimistic that we will with one of the candidates get an efficacy signal.”
