Dr. Anthony Fauci has described recent efforts by the Trump administration to discredit him as “bizarre” and “nonsense”.
In an interview with The Atlantic, the infectious disease expert said: “Ultimately, it hurts the president to do that.”
“It doesn’t do anything but reflect poorly on them.”
On July 12, a White House official shared a list detailing past apparent erroneous comments by Dr. Fauci.
However, on July 14, President Donald Trump insisted he had a “good relationship” with him.
“We’re all in the same team including Dr. Fauci,” the president said.
“We want to get rid of this mess that China sent us, so everybody’s working on the same line and we’re doing very well.”
The White House statement attacking Dr. Fauci criticized him for what it said was conflicting advice on face coverings and remarks on Covid-19’s severity.
Responding to the criticism, the expert told The Atlantic that targeting him was “completely wrong”.
“I cannot figure out in my wildest dreams why they would want to do that,” Dr. Fauci said.
“I think they realize now that that was not a prudent thing to do, because it’s only reflecting negatively on them,” he added.
Dr. Fauci was also criticized by Peter Navarro, President Trump’s top trade adviser, in an opinion piece for USA Today in which he said the disease expert had been “wrong about everything I have interacted with him on”.
However, the White House distanced itself from Peter Navarro’s remarks, with communications chief Alyssa Farah tweeting that the article “didn’t go through normal White House clearance processes” and was “the opinion of Peter alone”.
Asked about Peter Navarro’s piece as he departed the White House for Atlanta, President Trump said he should not have written it.
“Well he made a statement representing himself. He shouldn’t be doing that,” the president said.
In his interview with The Atlantic, Dr. Fauci said he was not thinking of resigning over the attacks on him.
“I think the problem is too important for me to get into those kinds of thoughts and discussions. I just want to do my job. I’m really good at it. I think I can contribute. And I’m going to keep doing it,” he said.
Dr. Fauci has also told Reuters that he believes the US will successfully develop a vaccine against the coronavirus by the end of the year.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the US has reported more than 3.4 million cases of coronavirus, and more than 136,000 deaths nationwide.
Vice-President Mike Pence has appeared without wearing a face mask while visiting the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota despite the medical centre’s own rules that visitors wear personal protective equipment.
In a deleted tweet, the Mayo Clinic said Mike Pence had been notified in advance of its policy requiring masks.
The vice-president leads the White House coronavirus taskforce.
The government’s own coronavirus-prevention advice is that people should wear face coverings “in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain”.
The Mayo Clinic itself requires all patients and visitors to its medical centers to wear a mask or face covering.
VP Pence’s visit came on the same day that the US coronavirus caseload topped one million and the number of deaths surpassed 57,000.
President Donald Trump has himself previously said he has no plans to wear a mask.
The vice-president defended his decision to flout hospitals rules as necessary in order to meet with staff and patients.
He said: “As vice-president of the United States, I’m tested for the coronavirus on a regular basis, and everyone who is around me is tested for the coronavirus.
“And when the CDC issued guidelines about wearing a mask, it was their recognition that people that may have the coronavirus could prevent the possibility of conveying the virus to someone else by wearing a mask.
“And since I don’t have the coronavirus, I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to be here, to be able to speak to these researchers, these incredible healthcare personnel, and look them in the eye and say thank you.”
According to news website Axios, Mike Pence has never once worn a mask while in public since the pandemic began while continuing to travel throughout the country.
A Mike Pence aide was the first White House member to test positive for the virus in late March.
President Donald Trump has warned Americans to prepare for the “toughest week” of the coronavirus pandemic yet, predicting a surge in deaths.
At his daily briefing, the president said “there will be death” in a grim assessment of the days ahead.
Donald Trump sought to reassure the worst-hit states, promising medical supplies and military personnel to combat the virus.
However, in contrast to his warning, President Trump suggested easing social-distancing guidelines for Easter.
At a news conference at the White House on April 4, he said: “We have to open our country again.
“We don’t want to be doing this for months and months and months.”
President Trump’s calls to relax restrictions on life came on the day confirmed coronavirus infections in the US surpassed 300,000, the highest number in the world.
As of April 4, there were almost 8,500 deaths from Covid-19 in the US, with most in New York state – the epicenter of the outbreak.
On the same day, New York state recorded 630 more Covid-19 deaths, another daily record that takes its toll to 3,565. New York state now has almost as many cases – over 113,000 – as the whole of Italy.
The president gave a candid assessment of what lies ahead for the US in the coming weeks.
He said: “This will be probably the toughest week between this week and next week, and there will be a lot of death, unfortunately, but a lot less death than if this wasn’t done but there will be death.”
To support states in their fight against Covid-19, President Trump said his administration would be deploying a “tremendous amount of military, thousands of soldiers, medical workers, professionals”.
The military personnel will “soon” be advised of their assignments, the president said, adding that “1,000 military personnel” were being deployed to New York City.
President Trump also addressed his use of the Defense Production Act, a Korean-War-era law which gives him powers to control the production and supply of US-made medical products.
He said he was “very disappointed” with 3M, a US company that makes masks, saying it “should be taking care of our country” instead of selling to others.
However, the president rejected accusations that the US had committed an act of “modern piracy” by redirecting 200,000 Germany-bound masks for its own use.
On the question of easing social-distancing restrictions, President Trump reiterated a familiar theme.
President Trump has said: “The cure cannot be worse than the problem itself.”
Elsewhere in the world, there has been cause for optimism as the number of new infections and deaths from coronavirus has started to gradually diminish.
Globally, more than 60,000 people have died and more than 1.1 million have been infected, Johns Hopkins University says.
According to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University, more than a million cases of coronavirus have been registered globally on April 2, 2020.
This is another grim milestone as the world grapples with the spreading pandemic.
More than 51,000 people have died and more than 208,000 have recovered.
The US accounts for the most cases and Italy has the highest death toll.
Covid-19 first emerged in central China three months ago.
Though the tally kept by Johns Hopkins records one million confirmed cases, the actual number is thought to be much higher.
It took a month and a half for the first 100,000 cases to be registered, but one million was reached after a doubling in cases over the past week.
Nearly a quarter of cases have been registered in the US, while Europe accounts for around half.
On April 2, Spain said 950 people had died in the previous 24 hours – thought to be the highest number of deaths of any country in one day.
The number of confirmed Spanish cases rose from 102,136 on April 1 to 110,238 – an 8% rise that is similar to the rate recorded in previous days. Spanish authorities believe the virus is now peaking and say they expect to see a drop in figures in the days ahead.
Spain is the second-worst hit nation in terms of deaths. It has also lost nearly 900,000 jobs.
US
infectious disease chief Anthony Fauci said that “as sobering a number as
that [100,000] is, we should be prepared for it. Is it going to be that much? I
hope not and the more we push on mitigation the less likely it would be that
number.
“But being realistic, we need to
prepare ourselves… it will be difficult – no one is denying we are going
through a very difficult time right now.”
President Donald Trump is expected to help businesses in America by allowing
them to delay payments on certain tariffs.
The
US imposes tariffs – fees for importing certain products from overseas – on a
raft of goods, including steel from China.
However,
the president is expected to waive payment of these fees for 90 days to help
improve US companies’ cashflows as they struggle with lockdowns.
The
90-day breathing space will apply to specific goods from “most-favored
nations”, although these are not expected to include imports from China or Europe.
Around
400 chief executives of small, medium, and large companies in the US urged
President Trump in a letter on March 31 to delay the collection of these fees
for up to 180 days.
The cash would normally be paid direct to the US government.
As more US states tighten measures to fight the
coronavirus, about three out of four Americans are now, or about to be, under
some form of lockdown.
The US has almost 175,000 confirmed virus cases and over 3,400 deaths.
It surpassed Italy last week as the country with the highest number of
people suffering from Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus.
Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee and Arizona became the latest states to order
citizens to stay at home, meaning 32 of 50 states have taken such steps.
Meanwhile governors are quarrelling with President Donald Trump about the
availability of testing kits.
New York City is the worst-hit place
in the US, with 914 confirmed fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins
University.
Some 245 million people are already
under orders to stay at home, or facing such orders which come into effect
later on March 31.
Almost two-thirds of states have
issued directives for their citizens to stay put, while the remaining states
have localized orders in effect.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who
has been reluctant to impose a state-wide order, said he would instruct people
in four counties in the south – where more than half the state’s cases of the
virus exist – to stay at home. He said this would last until at least the
middle of May.
In general, the “lockdowns” allow people to only go out to get
essential supplies and medicines, or limited forms of exercise.
The economic consequences have been profound, with millions of people having
lost their jobs.
According to a Fed estimate, 47 million people could be out of work in the coming months, with the US still weeks away from the peak of infections.
According to CBS News, President Trump and state governors held a conference
call on March 30 in which the president suggested there was no longer a lack of
kits to test people for Covid-19.
In an audio recording obtained by CBS News, President Trump says he has not
“heard about testing in weeks.
He says: “We’ve tested more now
than any nation in the world. We’ve got these great tests and we’re coming out
with a faster one this week… I haven’t heard about testing being a problem.”
Montana Governor Steve Bullock is heard to say his state does not have
adequate numbers of kits.
He says: “Literally, we are one
day away, if we don’t get test kits from the CDC, that we wouldn’t be able to
do testing in Montana.”
Washington Governor Jay Inslee told the New York Times he was taken aback by President Trump’s assertion.
Ben McAdams and Mario Diaz-Balart became the first members of Congress to
test positive for the Covid-19.
The office of Congressman Ben
McAdams, a Utah Democrat, said on March 18 that he had tested positive for the
virus.
The representative said he developed
“mild cold-like symptoms” after returning from Washington DC on March
14.
Ben McAdams said he immediately
self-isolated at home, but “my symptoms got worse and I developed a fever,
a dry cough and labored breathing”.
According to the statement, his
doctor referred him on March 17 for a Covid-19 test, which came back positive
on March 18.
Ben McAdams, 45, said he would remain in self-quarantine until he had
recovered.
Mario Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican, also announced on March 18 that he
had tested positive for coronavirus.
The 58-year-old tweeted from self-quarantine at his flat in Washington DC: “I’m feeling much better. However, it’s
important that everyone take this seriously.”
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has vowed the
US will achieve “total victory” over the coronavirus, describing himself
as a “wartime president”.
At a White House press conference, the president was asked by a reporter
whether he considered the country to be on a war footing in terms of fighting
the virus.
He said: “It’s a war.
“I view it as a, in a sense, a
wartime president.”
President Trump spoke as he revived a Korean War-era measure allowing the US
to ramp up production of vital medical supplies.
According to estimates, the US has more than 9,300 cases of Covid-19 and has
seen 150 deaths so far.
Globally there are some 220,000 confirmed cases and over 8,800 deaths.
President Trump has been holding daily briefings on the emergency this week
after being accused of playing down the outbreak in its early stages.
He said: “We must sacrifice
together, because we are all in this together, and we will come through
together. It’s the invisible enemy. That’s always the toughest enemy.
“But we are going to defeat the
invisible enemy. I think we are going to do it even faster than we thought, and
it’ll be a complete victory. It’ll be a total victory.”
President Trump announced he was signing the 1950 Defense Production Act,
which empowers the president to direct civilian businesses to help meet orders
for products necessary for national security.
However, the president said later on Twitter that he would only invoke the
measure “in a worst case scenario in the future”.
President Trump also described as an “absolute, total worst case
scenario” a warning by his Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, that the
pandemic could send US unemployment rocketing to 20%.
He said two US Navy hospitals ships would be pressed into service to help
alleviate an expected shortage of sick beds.
The USNS Comfort is expected to be sent to New York Harbor, though defense
officials said it is currently undergoing maintenance in Virginia.
The other vessel, USNS Mercy, is being prepared to deploy to a location on
the West Coast.
During the press conference,
President Trump again rejected suggestions that his use of the term
“Chinese virus” to describe Covid-19 was racist.
The US-Canada border, the world’s
longest, was effectively closed, except for essential travel and commerce.
President Trump also announced a new
crackdown on immigrants or asylum seekers crossing the US-Mexico border.
The president said his administration would invoke a statute that allows people to be blocked in order to prevent the spread of communicable diseases.
All 50 states in the US have been
hit by the deadly coronavirus as West Virginia reported its first case of the
infection on March 17.
Announcing the state’s first
Covid-19 patient, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice said: “We knew this was coming.”
So far, there are 108 deaths in the
US from coronavirus and more than 6,300 confirmed cases nationwide.
Globally, there are 217,325 cases and
8,917 people have died as of March 18.
As the Trump administration seeks a $1
trillion stimulus package, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reportedly warned
Republican senators privately on March 17 that if Congress failed to act, US
unemployment could hit 20% – almost double the jobless rate during the Great
Recession after the 2008 financial crisis.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said he would decide within two days whether to
order the city’s 8.5 million residents to “shelter in place”.
Such a move could largely confine people to their homes, while allowing them
to make necessary trips to buy groceries or medicine, walk a dog or exercise as
long as they avoid public interaction.
The mayor said: “It’s a very,
very difficult decision.
“We’ve never been here before. I
have never heard of anything like this in the history of New York City.”
However, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has suggested he would reject such a
plan.
Meanwhile, officials in the San Francisco Bay area have already ordered 6.7 million residents to stay home for all but the most crucial outings until April 7.
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