Washington — Maybe it was just a matter of time.
Dr. Anthony S. Forch, President Biden’s chief medical adviser on the coronavirus pandemic, has tested positive for the virus and is experiencing “mild symptoms,” the National Institute for Allergic Infectious Diseases said Wednesday. Stated.
The director of the institute, Dr. Fauci, was positive on the rapid antigen test. Said in a statement.. He added that he had been completely vaccinated against the virus and had been boosted twice. He is taking Pfizer’s antiviral therapy, Paxlovid, which has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of Covid-19, according to a spokeswoman for the authorities.
The news that Dr. Forch, one of the world’s leading infectious disease experts and a popular name thanks to the pandemic, has become a victim of the coronavirus, which has been a hit in Washington and across the country. The positive test was the first for 81-year-old Dr. Fauci.
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than half of Americans are infected with Covid-19, and he is not the only well-known patient. Health and Welfare Secretary Xavier Becerra gave a second positive reaction on Monday in less than a month. California Democratic Party member Maxine Waters, 83, announced on Tuesday that the test was positive. She did that in April too.
Dr. Fauci has not been in close contact with Mr Biden and other high-ranking government officials recently, and “continues to work in isolation from his home,” a statement from his institute said. If the test is negative, he returns to the office.
However, he was appearing publicly. This week, a group of AIDS clinical trials, a network of hundreds of researchers working to improve the treatment of HIV and related infectious diseases, met in Washington to focus on HIV / AIDS. Dr. Fauci, who is working, is a person on Tuesday.
Dr. Forch, along with other heads of federal health authorities, was expected to testify in front of the Senate Health Commission on the pandemic condition on Thursday. One source said Dr. Fauci’s laboratory was working with committee staff to arrange remote participation.
Although many of the countries appear to be moving forward, the coronavirus remains a prevailing threat. According to the New York Times database, more than 100,000 new cases are identified daily in the United States, a figure that remained almost flat throughout June. Many experts believe that this number is underestimated because so many people have been tested at home and the results have not been recorded by public health authorities.
Case numbers are declining in the northeast and Midwest, while cases and hospitalizations are skyrocketing in the west and south. However, reports of death remain low. According to the Times database, less than 350 deaths are reported daily, down from more than 2,600 a day at the height of Omicron’s surge.
Dr. Fauci has spent half a century in government advising seven presidents, including Ronald Reagan, on epidemics and pandemic threats.
However, the coronavirus pandemic turned him into a political lightning rod. Public demands for health precautions such as wearing masks and social distance have made him a frequent target of critics who question and oppose such measures.
Perhaps more than anyone else, he knows how infectious the coronavirus is. This spring he decided not to attend the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. This is a collection of prominent political and news media figures characterized by the appearance of the President. “It’s because I personally evaluated my personal risk,” he said. At that time, Dr. Fauci was preparing for other public activities, such as graduation speeches at Princeton University and the University of Michigan.
A correspondent’s supper, which attracted more than 2,000 guests to a packed hotel banquet hall, spread the virus among many journalists and other attendees.
“To be honest, it’s only a matter of time before we all get infected. Dr. Carlos del Rio, an infectious disease specialist at Emory University, said Wednesday.” What I tell people is that we At some point you will encounter this virus because you are doing more and gathering. And if you are going to encounter the virus, you have been vaccinated and boosted. It ’s better. ”
