Quick Takes (v49): Fauci, Frankly.

Quick Takes

Many people, me included, have been looking to Dr Anthony Fauci as the voice of reason - the adult in the room, if you will - during the word salad explosions that are the White House Coronavirus Task Force press conferences.

Fauci did an interview over the weekend with Jon Cohen, of  Science magazine, and it's an interesting read, for sure. Here are a few excerpts for you.

He started by letting people know he's "sort of exhausted" but doing well otherwise, adding a laugh on the second part below.

I'm not, to my knowledge, coronavirus infected. To my knowledge, I haven't been fired.

Cohen asked how he's managing the not getting fired part.

Well, that's pretty interesting because to his [Trump’s] credit, even though we disagree on some things, he listens. He goes his own way. He has his own style. But on substantive issues, he does listen to what I say.

He also said that although it looks like he is disagreeing with Trump, he "doesn't disagree in the substance." Rather,

It is expressed in a way that I would not express it, because it could lead to some misunderstanding about what the facts are about a given subject.

He also talked about having to push messaging, sometimes repeatedly, whether it's on hand-shaking, or meetings, or the press conferences. He said the VP is "really pushing" for physical separation during the task force meetings, keeping people out of the room if more than 10 or so try to cram in.  But,

The situation on stage [for the press briefings] is a bit more problematic. I keep saying, ‘Is there any way we can get a virtual press conference?’ Thus far, no. But when you're dealing with the White House, sometimes you have to say things one, two, three, four times, and then it happens. So, I'm going to keep pushing.

And, he said as far as the press conferences go, when there are sometimes more than 10 people on stage and more than that many reporters in the room,  "I’m trying my best. I cannot do the impossible."

And there was this exchange on travel restrictions.

Cohen: What about the travel restrictions? Trump keeps saying that the travel ban for China, which began 2 February, had a big impact [on slowing the spread of the virus to the United States] and that he wishes China would have told us 3 to 4 months earlier and that they were “very secretive.” [China did not immediately reveal the discovery of a new coronavirus in late December 2019, but by 10 January, Chinese researchers made the sequence of the virus public.] It just doesn't comport with facts.

Fauci:  I know, but what do you want me to do? I mean, seriously Jon, let’s get real, what do you want me to do?

Cohen:  Most everyone thinks that you’re doing a remarkable job, but you're standing there as the representative of truth and facts, but things are being said that aren't true and aren't factual.

Fauci: The way it happened is that after he made that statement [suggesting China could have revealed the discovery of a new coronavirus 3 to 4 months earlier], I told the appropriate people, it doesn't comport, because 2 or 3 months earlier would have been September. The next time they sit down with him and talk about what he’s going to say, they will say, ‘By the way, Mr. President, be careful about this and don't say that.’ But I can't jump in front of the microphone and push him down. OK, he said it. Let's try and get it corrected for the next time.

On the current process of state-by-state social distancing or shelter-in-place orders ,and whether it's a mistake to not have this be a national plan, Fauci pointed to the "delicate balance" and to discussions about the "overall impact of shutting everything down completely," and of finding a compromise.

If you knock down the economy completely and disrupt infrastructure, you may be causing health issues, unintended consequences, for people who need to be able to get to places and can't. You do the best you can. I've emphasized very emphatically at every press conference, that everybody in the country, at a minimum, should be following the fundamental guidelines. Elderly, stay out of society in self isolation. Don't go to work if you don't have to. Yada, yada, yada. No bars, no restaurants, no nothing. Only essential services.

When you get a place like New York or Washington or California, you have got to ratchet it up. But it is felt—and it isn't me only speaking, it’s a bunch of people who make the decisions—that if you lock down everything now, you're going to crash the whole society. So, you do what you can do, as best as you can. Do as much physical separation as you can and ratchet it up at the places you know are at highest risk.

Also interesting? The process of what happens before the daily press conferences.  Fauci said that the task force sits down for 90 minutes or so, then move to the anteroom near the Oval Office to talk about the messages that they want to emphasize. And then?

Then we go in to see the president, we present [our consensus] to him and somebody writes a speech. Then he gets up and ad libs on his speech. And then we're up there to try and answer questions.

Cohen mentioned seeing the creative ideas that we're not doing here that other countries have tried, such as taking everyone's temperature before letting them into a grocery store, and wondered if that's something we should be considering. Fauci noted that things others are doing have been discussed, but not all of them can be implemented. Specifically to the temperature-taking, he noted

I think the logistics of that have to be worked out... This is something that should be considered. I will bring it up at the next task force meeting and see whether there’s some sort of a logistical, bureaucratic reason why it can't be done. The rationale for doing it is at least worth serious consideration.

He also said that it's premature right now to talk about what went wrong, and that there'll be time to do that later after it's over.

It's almost like the fog of war. After the war is over, you then look back and say, ‘Wow, this plan, as great as it was, didn't quite work once they started throwing hand grenades at us.’ It really is similar to that. Obviously, testing [for the new coronavirus] is one clear issue that needs to be relooked at. Why were we not able to mobilize on a broader scale? But I don't think we can do that right now. I think it's premature. We really need to look forward.

And finally, the question that everyone wants to know the answer to?

It was asked, and it was answered. Kind of. Take a look.

Getty Images

Cohen: At Friday’s press conference, you put your hands over your face when Trump referred to the “deep State Department,” [a popular conspiracy theory]. 

It’s even become an internet meme. Have you been criticized for what you did?

Fauci: No comment.

Maybe we'll get the real story after the fog of war has cleared.