WASHINGTON – Maybe it was only a matter of time.
Dr Anthony S. Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser on the coronavirus pandemic, tested positive for the virus and experienced “mild symptoms”, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said Wednesday.
Dr Fauci, director of the institute, tested positive for a quick antigen test, the agency said in a statement. It is added that he was fully vaccinated against the virus and was twice reinforced. He is taking Paxlovid, Pfizer’s antiviral therapy approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of Covid-19, a spokesman for the agency said.
The news that Dr. Fauci, one of the world’s greatest infectious disease specialists and famous for the pandemic, has fallen victim to the coronavirus has echoed in Washington and the country. The positive test is the first for Dr. Fauci, who is 81 years old.
But with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimating that more than half of Americans are infected with Covid-19, he is hardly the only one suffering from a big name. Xavier Besera, the Minister of Health and Human Services, tested positive on Monday for the second time in less than a month. Representative Maxine Waters, a 83-year-old California Democrat, said Tuesday she tested positive; she had done the same in April.
Dr Fauci has not been in close contact with Mr Biden or other senior government officials recently and will “isolate and continue to work from home”, according to a statement from his institute. He will return to his office after his test is negative.
But he made public appearances. The AIDS Clinical Trials Group, a network of hundreds of researchers conducting research to improve the treatment of HIV and related infections, is meeting in Washington this week, and Dr. Fauci, whose laboratory work focuses on HIV / AIDS, turned to the group in person on Tuesday.
Along with other senior federal health officials, Dr. Fauci was expected to testify Thursday before the Senate Health Committee on the state of the pandemic. An official said the Dr. Fauci Institute was working with committee members to organize a remote event.
While much of the nation seems to be trying to move forward, the coronavirus remains a pervasive threat. According to a New York Times database, more than 100,000 new cases are still identified each day in the United States, a figure that remained roughly the same in June. Many experts believe that the number is low because so many people do tests at home, the results of which are not recorded by 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 deaths remain low. Less than 350 deaths are reported each day, according to The Times database, which is less than more than 2,600 a day in the midst of Omicron’s jump.
Dr. Fauci has spent half a century in government and has advised seven presidents, starting with Ronald Reagan, on the threats of epidemics and pandemics.
But the coronavirus pandemic turned Dr. Fauci into a political lightning rod. His public call for health precautions such as wearing masks and social distancing has made him a frequent target of critics who question or oppose such measures.
Perhaps more than anyone else knows how infected the coronavirus is. This spring, he decided not to attend a White House reporters’ dinner – a gathering of prominent political and news media figures at which the president appeared – “because of my individual assessment of my personal risk,” he said at the time. At the time, Dr. Fauci was preparing for other public engagements, including introductory speeches at Princeton and the University of Michigan.
The reporters’ dinner, which drew more than 2,000 guests to a crowded hotel ballroom, eventually spread the virus to many journalists and others.
“It’s only a matter of time before we all get infected, to be honest; this virus has become so transmissible, “said Carlos del Rio, an infectious disease specialist at Emory University on Wednesday. “What I’m telling people is that at some point you’re going to run into this virus because we’re doing more and getting together. And if you’re going to face the virus, you’d better be vaccinated and reinforced. “
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