Maybe it’s just a matter of time.
Dr. Anthony S. FauciPresident Biden’s top medical adviser on the coronavirus pandemic has tested positive for the coronavirus and is showing “mild symptoms,” the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said Wednesday.
Dr. Fauci, director of the institute, positive for rapid antigen test, organ said in a statement. It added that he was fully vaccinated against the virus and had been boosted twice.
Dr. Fauci, 81, has not recently had close contact with President Biden or other senior government officials and will “isolate and continue to work from his home,” the statement said. He will return to his office once the test results are negative.
Along with other top federal health officials, Dr. Fauci is scheduled to testify Thursday before the Senate Health Committee on the state of the pandemic; Fauci’s institute is working with committee staff to arrange a televised appearance, an official said.
While much of the country seems to be trying to move on, the coronavirus remains a threat. Based on New York Times database, More than 100,000 new cases are still being identified each day in the United States – a number that was virtually unchanged in June. Many experts say the number is too low because so many people are getting tests done in the US. home whose results are not recorded with public health authorities.
While cases are declining in the Northeast and Midwest, cases and hospitalizations are increasing in the West and South. However, reports of the death toll remain low. The Times database shows that 350 fewer deaths are reported per day, down from more than 2,600 per day at the height of the Omicron surge.
The positive test result was a first for Dr Fauci, one of the world’s leading infectious disease experts. He spent 50 years in government and advised seven presidents, beginning with Ronald Reagan, on plague and pandemic threats.
But the coronavirus pandemic has turned Dr. Fauci into a political lightning rod. His public urges for health precautions such as mask wearing and social distancing make him a frequent target of critics, who question or oppose measures such as so.
Perhaps more than anyone, he knows how contagious the coronavirus is. Earlier this spring, he decided not to attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner – a gathering of prominent political and media figures that featured the president – “because of the my personal risk,” he said then. At the time, Dr. Fauci was preparing for other public talks, including opening speeches at Princeton and the University of Michigan.
The reporters’ dinner, which drew more than 2,000 guests to a ballroom filled with the hotel, is over spread the virus among many journalists and other attendees.
