National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director and coronavirus task force member Anthony Fauci couldn’t offer any assurance regarding an end to the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. during a series of interviews Sunday morning.
Just two days after President Trump declared a national emergency over the coronavirus outbreak, Fauci fielded a number of questions about the country’s future as cases of the virus continue to increase.
Here are key takeaways from Fauci’s Sunday morning appearances:
Fauci would “like to see a dramatic diminution” of in-person interactions
During an interview on CNN, Fauci urged that Americans “need to be very serious” about how “life is not going to be the way it used to be,” before being asked if he’d like to see a national lockdown that bans people from going out to places such as restaurants and bars.
“I would like to see a dramatic diminution of the personal interaction we see in restaurants and in bars,” Fauci said. “Whatever it takes to do that, that’s what I would like to see.”
Watch Fauci’s remarks on CNN below:
Fauci: "I would like to see a dramatic diminution of the personal interaction we see in restaurants and in bars." pic.twitter.com/Koqc9biKZQ
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) March 15, 2020
Fauci is “not sure” about the outbreak’s duration
Fauci told Fox News’ Chris Wallace about the need to be “ahead of the curve” and he’d like to be “criticized for being overreactive.”
“When you are dealing with a virus outbreak, you’re always behind where you think you are,” Fauci said. “So therefore, you’ve got to jump ahead and stay ahead of the curve.”
Wallace then asked Fauci about how he and President Trump at one point mentioned eight weeks regarding the outbreak’s disruptions to everyday life and whether he suggested that meant being on the “other side of the curve” in eight weeks “if we do everything right.”
“First of all, we have to say that people don’t misunderstand, we are not sure what the duration is going to be,” Fauci said. “Number two, if you look at what happened in China where they had that peak and then they are coming down — there are only 11 new cases in China —they dominated the new cases just a few months ago. So if it started off in China, two or three months ago, they started coming down within a two month period.”
Watch Fauci’s remarks on Fox News below:
Fauci: "We are not sure what the duration is going to be" pic.twitter.com/H52MSbMbwO
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) March 15, 2020
Fauci says administration is “open-minded” about future travel restrictions
When asked by ABC News’ Jon Karl about the possibility of more travel restrictions, including domestic, Fauci said that travel restrictions “have not been seriously discussed.”
“I mean, they’ve been discussed, but not seriously discussed,” Fauci said. “I don’t see that right now or in the immediate future. But remember, we are very open-minded about whatever it takes to preserve the health of the American public.”
Watch Fauci’s remarks on ABC News below:
“I don’t see that right now in the immediate future but remember, we are very open-minded about whatever it takes to preserve the health of the American public,” Dr. Fauci tells @jonkarl when asked if the U.S. could impose domestic travel restrictions. https://t.co/b3vhObQa4c pic.twitter.com/4lcY79Lg0m
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 15, 2020
Fauci says he could see more “severe” scenarios in hospitals
After agreeing with CBS’ Margaret Brennan that hospitals could possibly become more overwhelmed, Fauci said that it’s “conceivable” for a “very severe” scenario, before adding “that’s the reason why you have things like the strategic national stockpile for ventilators and things like that.”
Asked to respond to the concern about shortages of key supplies such as ventilators, Fauci responded that “we would be unrealistic if we were not concerned that that possibility exists.”
Fauci went on to say that there’s “absolute, 100 percent take that to the bank” planning to address the shortages of key supplies.
Watch Fauci’s remarks on CBS below:
Fauci responds to shortages of key supplies pic.twitter.com/WqGrwu3em1
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) March 15, 2020
Fauci warns Americans to prepare to “hunker down significantly more”
When asked by MSNBC’s Chuck Todd about whether he prefers a 14-day national shutdown to slow down the outbreak, Fauci responded that he “would prefer as much as we possibly could” and that “we should really be overly aggressive and get criticized for over-reacting.”
Todd then asked if he’s made that point of view known inside the administration. After Fauci responded “yes,” he denied getting pushback and insisted that “they listen and they generally go with what we say.”
Asked if it’s possible for more closures, Fauci said that Americans should prepare to “hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing.”
Watch Fauci’s remarks on MSNBC below:
Fauci: “Americans should be prepared that they are going to have to hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing” pic.twitter.com/USr3eZywh2
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) March 15, 2020
Fauci, going off the party line again.
Why he hasn’t been tweet-fired is beyond me.
“Hunker down.” The cliché advice every time we have a hurricane. It’s a meme around here. But we know what it means and we can do it.
Fauci isn’t really raising more uncertainty; he’s being honest about what we know and what we don’t know, which is a lot more than the rest of the Trump administration has been.
Time to curl up with a good book…
Torn between “A Distant Mirror” and the “The Stand”…
The Stand is a little too much on the nose, don’t you think…
Dr Fauci is the most competent talking head the Administration has sent out, but it just shows how insufficient the Trump Administration’s response has been. If you want to see a competent response from a government official, see this interview by the Singapore Foreign Minister:
No BS. Serious, but clear, communication on what is happening, how long and what steps are being taken. Not panic-inducing, not unbelievable happy talk.
Why can’t we have that here?