Dr. Anthony Fauci is one of four top government doctors expected to testify remotely before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Tuesday, and, according to The New York Times, he plans to use his time to warn of the consequences of reopening the country too soon amid the pandemic.
According to the report, Fauci plans to warn of the “needless suffering and death” that could come if important measures and guidelines are disregarded.
“The major message that I wish to convey to the Senate HLP committee tomorrow is the danger of trying to open the country prematurely,” Fauci, the United States’ leading expert on infectious disease and a central member of the White House coronavirus task force, told the Times. “If we skip over the checkpoints in the guidelines to ‘Open America Again,’ then we risk the danger of multiple outbreaks throughout the country. This will not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal.”
This message comes at a time when several states have begun pushing toward reopening businesses at varying levels, and even as the President himself has given mixed messages about the country’s preparedness and response to the virus, the status of a vaccine, and whether states should reopen.
And that’s when he’s not offering unproven, dangerous medical “advice.”
Despite this, Fauci has remained resolute in his stance, often cheered across social media for his tact and tenacity in sticking to science-backed facts.