A single line often inverts meaning once you see what it
answers, so neighbouring messages are always shown.
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March 11, 2020;
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Mar. 12, 2020 - 129,846/4931. 1267 cases in USA, 38 deaths. Cases in 44 states. Italy continues to surge Has House briefing in Capitol and Senate briefing in Dirksen. Then continuation of House Energy and Commerce Hewaring from the other day with Malonet as Chair. Again, they hammered us about testing. The Senators and Congressperrdsons were enraged, especially Patty Murry (D-WA). Steve Redd during the briefings and Bob Redfield during the Hearing continued to be incoherent in explaining about the difficulty regarding testing the "Public health" system that the CDc set up works well in individual small numbes of patient/physician related requests. However, it is not suited to mass screening. Calls with Se. Joe Munchin (x2); Gov. Cuomo; Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) Very flattering article abpout me in the Washington Post by Karen Tumulty (see below) that explains the above: Anthony Fauci fights outbreaks with the sledgehammer of truth An administration in deep denial. Anthony S. 'of Allergy Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, on Capitol Hill on Thursday. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters) By Karen Tumulty Columnist
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March 12, 2020 at 5:32 p.m. EDT A virus that is deadly and little understood. An administration in deep denial. Anthony S. Fauci has been here before. As the coronavirus epidemic escalates, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has become a familiar media presence. Fauci's expertise and credibility shine against the contradictory and false messages coming out of President Trump. The administration has at times sounded more concerned with protecting the president politically than stopping the spread of a potentially lethal disease. While Trump tries to play down the severity of a public health crisis that might affect his reelection prospects, Fauci has laid out the best assessment of the true danger in stark terms. In testimony Wednesday on Capitol Hill, he warned that the coronavirus has a mortality rate 10 times as great as that of the flu, and refuted Trump's rosy promise that a vaccine will be ready "in a fairly quick manner." Fauci also said flatly that the government is "failing" when it comes to the urgent imperative of making widespread testing available. The latest updates on the coronavirus After federal officials gave lawmakers a briefing on Thursday, a frustrated Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) told me: "Everything was wrapped in confusion. The only one who answers the questions -- he not only gives the science, but then he says, let me explain this in pedestrian language -- is Dr. Fauci." Then again, this is not the first time Fauci has found himself in the position of having to navigate a public health crisis fraught with political land mines. A renowned international expert on the immune system, Fauci took over NIAID in 1984, barely a year and a half after scientists had identified a mysterious retrovirus that was killing thousands of people. It would be nearly another year before President Ronald Reagan would publicly utter the name of the disease it produced: AIDS. Reagan's sluggish handling of the epidemic left one of the deepest scars on his legacy. In 1986, Reagan's surgeon general, C. Everett Koop, produced a report that described in graphic terms the potential toll of AIDS, projecting that 270,000 Americans might contract it by 1991. The report used explicit language, explaining that the disease was transmitted through "semen and vaginal fluids" and during "oral, anal and vaginal intercourse." Conservatives approved of some of what was in Koop's document: It warned against "freewheeling casual sex," and asserted that the surest means of preventing AIDS were through abstinence and monogamy. But they weren't so happy with the surgeon general's recommendation that condoms be used as a fallback. Koop was concerned that his findings were being buried by the Reagan administration, so two years later, he and Fauci cooked up a bold idea: mailing an abridged version of his report to every single one of the 107 million households and postal boxes in the country. The problem, however, was that the surgeon general lacked the budget to do it. As Fauci recounted to me during a 2018 interview, he told Koop: "You know, there is a mechanism called an interagency transfer." Fauci had the authority to provide funds to get the project off the ground, because combating AIDS related to his own agency's core mission. Congress picked up the idea and ordered the largest mass mailing in U.S. history. It also stipulated that the seven-page brochure be "distributed without necessary clearance of the content by any official, organization or office" -- in other words, that it not be edited to suit anyone's political agenda. In addition to being printed in English and Spanish, "Understanding AIDS" went out in Chinese, Portuguese, Haitian-Creole, Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian and Braille. It debunked many myths about the disease, for instance stating unequivocally that AIDS is not spread by mosquitoes, and could not be caught through casual contact with saliva, sweat or toilet seats. 'bad Crestor myalgia th care facilities. Subsequent surveys found that nearly 87 million adults perused part or all of the booklet -- making it the most widely read publication in the country in July 1988, with Reader's Digest coming in a distant second with 48.5 million readers. Of course, there are many differences in scale and severity between the AIDS epidemic and the coronavirus threat. While most who contract coronavirus will recover, AIDS during the 1980s was a death sentence wrapped in stigma. But as Fauci well understands, all infectious diseases have something in common: Accurate information is one of the most powerful weapons for fighting them. Fauci has already shown how important it is to hit a microscopic enemy with a sledgehammer of truth. A yet-untold number of Americans will be betting their lives on him to do it again. Looks like I may have Polymyalgia Rheumatica or really bad Crestor myalgia PRESS: On Pebble Beach at the White House after the TF meeting: ABC Evening News; CBS Evening News; NBC Evening News; Then, I did a gaggle of 5 questions on Pebble Beach; CNN Coronavirus Town Hall with Sanjay Guptya and Anderson Cooper; Mar. 213, 2020 - 132,382/4981 USA 1694 Deaths. Primary health care facilities. Hot areas - WA, CA, MA, NYC I thought that it would be a quiet day since the TF meeting was called off. However, at 2:00 PM, I was called down to the White House since the POTUS wanted me next to him at the podium of the Rose Garden as he made the announcement of deckaring at "National Emergency" which would give him and the Secretary of HHS the power to remove many constraints in response to a national emergency. Also on the podium were the CEOs of the major private sector companies that would make tests readily available - CVS, Target, Walmart, etc. I was at the posium and answered many questions of the press in the Rose Garden. I will be on the 5 Sunday Showes 2 days from now (The "Fauci Five"). Prior to that, I was involved in helping to proof the speech he would give. There were some glaring errors in the speech that I corrected. Got to meet Hope Hicks who was very nice. Jared is playing a major role in all of this. After the presser the White House people showe me a minute by minute graph of the stock markert from the time the POTUS went to the podium and it went down to the 45 minutes of the speech and questions. The DOW went up in 45 minutes 1980 points, which was the greatest single increase in the market in history. The POTUS signed a copy of the graph for me and several of the CEOs My tooth crown fell out in flossing this AM and Dr. Eric Hosaka so nicely fixed it for me right away 2 hours after I called him we . (see below): Alex Azar is obviously being pushed aside as he played a very minor role in the Rose garden Presser. PRESS: MSNBC Morning Joe; GMA (ABC);CBS The Morning; FOX and Friends; BBC World News; Rose Garden Presser with many cameras.
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Mar 12, 2020 - Feb 17, 2021 15,000 10,000 5,000 Weekly Tests Weekly Cases Avg. Weekly Hospitalized -8.7% From Last Week -25.8% From Last Week -17.6% From Last Week 14.0M ueM 120,000 12.0M 1.4M 100,000 10.0M 1.2M 80,000 8.0M 1.0M 0.8M 60,000 6.0M 0.6M 4.0M 40,000 0.4M 2.0M 20,000 0.2M I cow lil = ete a oe = > -- fae a bo = = a a EST ERESCE CIOS OF STORE SL ST Lee ae 325957235 3523235 Source: The COVID Tracking Project °o Weekly Deaths -20.9% From Last Week " a Apr9 Juni Jul 2 Jul 23 Aug Sep Oct 15 Nov Nov Dec Jan? Jan May Mar stick with the 2 dose since we know from our studies that the 2nd dose increases the response 10fold over the 1st dose. This height of response gives a cushion against the existing variants and also if you have a less-than-optimal response (albeit a good response) to the 1st dose, you may actually "select" for more variants. • Call from Jeff Sachs about the International Monetary Fund (Special Drawing Rights - SDR) and the possibility of a $40-$50 billion dollar program to vaccinate the entire world. He wants me to have a special role. Moe later. • Gave Harvey lecture virtually at Georgetown • Met with Francis C, Carl D, John Martin, and Larry Tabak about the COVID targeted drug development program that I am trying to set up with the $743 million that we put into our total NIH budget request. It will be based in NIAID with Carl as the lead. As usual Francis wants governance to be somewhat under his control. All good. We will get it done. PRESS: Interview with Erin Banco - The Daily Beast; White House Press Conference; ESPN Baseball TV with Buster Olney; interview with Ben Samuels of Haaretz Israel Newspaper (he tried to get me involved with commenting on the policy of Israel and I refused); MSNBC with Joy Reid;
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2020-03-14 00:00
Anthony S. Fauci
Mar. 14, 2020 (Saturday) - CDC numbers (less than WHO numbers. 142,320/5388. 129 countries involved. China numbers going way down - only 11 new infections. Koreaa flattening out. USA - 2226 cases, 50 deaths, 532 new cases. POTUS came into the TF meeting with "USA" baseball cap on. We spent a lot of time talking about "ratings' of yesterday's press conference and its effect on the stock market. He dwelled on doing more press conferences and how the ratings would be even better than the best fake news TV ratings. He made the right decisions about now doing travel restrictions in UK + Ireland and so what I ma seeing is someone who actually makes decision that are bestr for the public health since he follows what the TF recommends (driven by me and Deb and CDC) but his public expression and even private expression is related to the fluff of ratings and publicity. And so he wants us to do 2 press conferences/day - one in AM and one in PM. Really interesting. We now will have no time to do work. Hope Hicks seems as uncomfortable with this as I am. I see her as a future ally. POTUS Did press conference and Alex Azar was not invited in order to make room for "diversity" on the podium with Ben Carson and Jerome Adams. Death by a 1000 cuts for Azar. I volunteered to Alex that in my introduction I would mention that the Declaration of Natuonal Emergency gacve Azar as Secertary enormous powers and flexibility to unshackle our response. I did so. Mahor positive profile of me in The Atlantic yesterday (03/13/2020) https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/2020/03/time-capsule-2-exceptional-drfauci/607957/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=email&utm_source=a (see below): As of today, March 13, 2020--three-plus years into the current administration, three months into public awareness of the coronavirus spread, seven-plus months until before the next election--Anthony Fauci is playing a role in which no previous Trump-era figure has survived. One other person has been in the spot Fauci now occupies. That is, of course, James Mattis, the retired four-star Marine Corps general and former secretary of defense for Trump. Former is the key word here, and the question is whether the change in circumstances between Mattis's time and Fauci's--the public nature of this emergency, the greater proximity of upcoming elections, the apparent verdict from financial markets and both international and domestic leaders that Donald Trump is in deep over his head--will give Fauci the greater leverage he needs, not just to stay at work but also to steer policy away from the abyss. Why is Anthony Fauci now, even more than James Mattis before him, in a different position from any other publicly visible associate of Trump's? 1. Pre-Trump credibility, connections, and respect. Fauci has been head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, at the National Institutes of Health, since Ronald Reagan's first term, in 1984. (How can he have held the post so long? Although nothing in his look or bearing would suggest it, Fauci is older than either Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden. He recently turned 79.) Through his long tenure at NIH, which spanned the early days of the HIV/AIDS devastation and later experience with the SARS and H1N1 epidemics, Fauci has become a very familiar "public face of science," explaining at congressional hearings and in TV and radio interviews how Americans should think about the latest threat. He has managed to stay apart from any era's partisan-political death struggles. He has received a raft of scientific and civic honors, from the Lasker Award for health leadership, to the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded by George W. Bush. Thus, in contrast to virtually all the other figures with whom Trump has surrounded himself, Fauci is by any objective standard the best person for the job -- and is universally seen as such. This distinguishes him from people Trump has favored in his own coterie, from longtime consigliere Michael Cohen to longtime ally Roger Stone to longtime personal physician Harold Bornstein; and from past and present members of his White House staff, like the departed Michael Flynn and the returned Hope Hicks and the sempiternal Jared Kushner; and fish-out-of-water Cabinet appointees, like (to pick one) the neurosurgeon Ben Carson as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Put another way: Very plainly, Trump needs Fauci more than Fauci needs Trump. This is not a position Donald Trump has ever felt comfortable in-- witness the denouement with Mattis. 2. The ability not to abase himself before Trump. The first Cabinet meeting Donald Trump held, nearly three years ago, was unlike any other conducted in U.S. history, and very much like subsequent public appearance of Trump in company with his appointees. In that meeting, on June 12, 2017, as TV cameras were rolling, Trump went around the table and one-by-one had his appointees gush about how kind, wise, and far-sighted he was-- failing only to compliment him on his humility. (Tina Nguyen described the meeting at the time in Vanity Fair.) After praising himself, Trump called on others to praise him, starting with the reliable Mike Pence. "It is the greatest privilege of my life to serve as the vice president to a president who is keeping his word to the American people," Pence began. All the others followed his example--with the prominent exception of Mattis. He spent his "praise" time instead complimenting the men and women in uniform he led. No public event like that Cabinet meeting had happened before in the United States, simply because no other president has been as needy for in-public adulation as Trump is. Of course most politicians and all presidents are needy; you could not run for the presidency if you had a normal temperament. (Background reading on this point, while you're "socially isolating": Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men.) Every political leader eats up the praise in private--"Wonderful job today, Mr. President--you were really connecting!", not to mention Veep--but all the rest of them have been savvy enough to know how tacky this looks in public. The modern exceptionillustrating-the-rule might have been Lyndon Johnson, with enough of the Sun King in his makeup to enjoy having people humble themselves before him. But holding a public adulation-fest? If George W. Bush had heard, say, Karl Rove start in that way, he would likely have said, "OK, Turd Blossom, what are you angling for?" Barack Obama--or John F. Kennedy, or Jimmy Carter-- would have arched an eyebrow as if to ask, "Hey, did you think you were still playing in the minors?" But what we saw in that Cabinet meeting, we have seen again and again from those around Trump. The most humiliating recent examples come from the people in charge of the coronavirus response: Pence again; Alex Azar, head of Health and Human Services; Robert Redfield, head of the Centers for Disease Control; and Seema Verma, in charge of Medicare and Medicaid. The beginnings and endings of their public statements, and the answers to many questions, are larded with praise for Trump and his "decisive and visionary action." (For the latest example, see Verma under questioning from Martha MacCallum of Fox News. Verma repeatedly dodges MacCallum's direct question about whether hospitals have enough ventilators and other supplies (as Fred Barbash laid out in the Washington Post. MacCallum makes one last try-- and Verma seeks refuge in saying, "And that's why the president has taken such a bold and decisive action." That claim made no logical sense to MacCallum or the listeners, but it reflected the inescapable logic of what is expected from members of the Court of Trump.) There is one exception: Anthony Fauci. He has occasionally said that he agrees with aspects of the administration's or the president's policies, but he has avoided the ritual selfabnegation. Of course Fauci held his job long before Trump came to town, and is not part of the normal round of high-level appointments each new administration makes. (To the best of my knowledge, though, directors of NIH institutes, like Fauci, serve "at the pleasure of the president" and so could be removed. If I'm wrong on that, will update. Update: Several NIH veterans have written in to say that Fauci's position is officially different from that of the NIH director, and is not directly a presidential-political appointment. Recent history teaches that a vindictive president can make things difficult even for career civil servants. But I am grateful for the clarification. ) But Fauci's polite but consistent reluctance to grovel cannot have gone unnoticed by the audience-of-one for all the other appointees: Trump himself. BIG DAY! 3. Daring to contradict Trump, in public. This is a step beyond anything Mattis attempted. Through the first two years of the administration, background-sourced stories and reports based on "those in a position to know the Secretary's thinking" laid out the increasing distance between Mattis's view of American interests and what Trump was saying and doing. But there is no precedent, from Mattis or anyone else, for what we have seen these past few weeks from Fauci at the podium. Is the coronavirus problem just going to go away (as Trump had claimed)? No, from Fauci. It is serious, and it is going to get worse. Is the testing system "perfect" (as Trump had claimed)? No, it is not working as it should. Is the U.S. once again the greatest of all nations in its response to the threat? No, it is behind in crucial aspects, and has much to learn from others. Fauci is saying all these things politely and respectfully. As an experienced Washington operator he knows that there is no reason to begin an answer with, "The president is wrong." You just skip to the next sentence, "The reality is..." But his meaning--"the president is wrong"--is unmistakable. Anthony Fauci has earned the presumption-of-credibility for his comments. Donald Trump has earned the presumption that he is lying or confused. A year ago that standoff--the realities, versus Trump-world obeisance--worked out against James Mattis. Will the balance of forces be different for Fauci? As of this writing, no one can know. PRESS: Press conference in WH press room; The Atlantic (see above)
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Mar. 15, 2020 (Sunday) - BIG DAY! 142,539/ USA = 2888 with 58 deaths and 662 new I did all 5 Sunday Shows today (my 3rd Fauci 5") with This Week on ABC, Meet the Press on NBC, Face the Nation on CBS, FOX with Chris Wallace and CNN. All went very well Had press conference at White House. POTUS made intro and then left for us to take Questions. Brett Giroir brought a bunch of USPHS officers with their dark blue work uniforms and told the press how great they are. I spent an hour before the press briefing in the VP's office. In preparing for the briefing which was geared to rolling out the high throughput tests in collaboration with the States and the private sector that will be operational in the next day or so, they wanted to spin it that this was unprecedented that no one has ever done this so quickly. Deb did not speak up which shows me that she is really inhibited by her Presidential appointee status. A little shame on her. I spoke up and said that several countries have already done what we are talking about, i.e. China, South Korea and so why not stop bragging and just say that we are entering a new phase of our response to COVID-19, i.e. a much more expansive testing capability. Hope Hicks and Jared Kuschner were my allies in this and both seem to now want to make sure that I am involved in everything and approve everything. The POTUS came in and misunderstood thinking that we (the USG) would be implementing the testing. He was pissed. Brett and VP corrected him. However, he remained in a bad mood. He then said that he wanted to show his face and make some remarks without Qs and As at the briefing. Hope felt this was dangerous and said he should not do it. He started to berate Hope in front of everyone say that he became president because he was good and dealing with the public and was pissed that Hope was trying to tell him what he could or could not do. I spoke with Bill de Blasio (Mayor - NYC) and convinced him based on what I was saying publicly and my conversation tonight to close the NYC schools (he had already decided based on what I was saying on TV). I went on to tell him he should close the bars and restaurants in NYC. He said that he would base this on my recommendation. I had a similar call with Ann O'Leary, the COS of Gov. Gavin Newsom of California. Ann said that based on my TV appearances today and yesterday, the Governor has decided to close the schools in California as well as the bars and restaurants. When I left the WH and crossed Pennsylvania and 17th Street, several cars honked their horns and shouted "thank you" out the window. Congress (Blount) call and wants to give us a lot more in a 2nr supplement.
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Mar. 16, 2020 - Came out with the guidelines that reflected my pushing for a more aggressive mitigation 15 day strategy → If you are elderly, self-isolate; do not congregate in groups >10 people; stay away from bars, restaurants, theaters, sporting events; if a community has community spread CLOSE the bars, restaurants and places of congregation; close schools where there is community spread; no visitors to nursing homes; if family member is sick, others in family should take extra percautions; only necessary travel, telework as much as possible. Press conference after was highly attended. Stock market dropped byu 3000 points, the biggest percentage drop in history. PRESS: ABC 20/20 coronavirus special with David Muir;
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Mar. 17, 2020 - 168,000/6700; 151 countries; USA 4529 cases (903 news); 84 deaths (16 new). At TF discussed supply chain issues; also testing still somewhat of an issue. Press conference with POTUS. He is now coming around (largely through my efforts) to say thatr this is really a serious problem, but he still always brags about how well we are doing as opposed to emohasizing the challenges ahead. I gave some support to Gov. Cuomo during a question of me. Issue arising of clains from France that hydroxychloroquine is effective in decreasing the duration of viral shedding and also is used as a prophylaxis in exposed people. All uncontrolled studies. PRESS: Press conference after TF. I was featured heavily in the presser; FOX with Laura Ingraham; Sean Hannity Radio; Barstool Sports Podcast
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Mar. 18, 2020 - WH wanted me to not wear myself out. Have had private car and driver since Mar. 13 (Friday). I will stay at NIH today and do some press tonight from truck at home. Very positive press with Laura Ingraham on FOX last night On WHO call, Dale Fisher (Australian working in Singapore) gave warning to other countries that after you lift the lock down, be prepared for a rebound and use the lockdown period to stock up on supplies, prepare alternative hospitals (gyms, schools, etc.) preserve PPE and not use them for unnecessary things. Also, from Italy, 12% of ICU patinets were 19-50 years od and ~30% were 50-70 yo; 50% of French patienets in ICU are under 60 yo. Bloomberg report on March 18 (Tommaso Ebhardt et al) said that in Italy 99% of thois who died had "othe illness". However, 75% of these had hypertension. These latter must have been on anti-hypertensive meds and so the issue of ACE inhibitors absolutely must be pursued. On TF call we discussed the Defense Production Act and a possible EO. Also, the VP said over the phone that he wanted me at the Pressor today and Katie (good for her) pushed back and said that I should stay at NIH. VP looked surprised. Probably will hear more about this. Also, at TF meeting they decided to fully embrace FEMA and make a big announcement about that with the POTUS today. New York City and State are facing a "Sophie's Choice" regarding PPE. They are very low and they have to make a decision of using PPE for testing versus giving to HCWs who are taking care of patients. Obviously, it goes to HCWs, but that will interfer with testing. This was related to me by phone call with Peter Staley, Mark Harrington, and James Krellerstein. rt, Also, had phone call with Major de Blasio who wants to go to "shelter in place for the entire city. He is asking my advice since Gov. Cuomo is pushing back. I advised DeBlasio to go ahead and do it. I will try to speak with Cuomo. POTUS called me up from Oval. He has Alex Azar, Steve Hahn, Bob Redfield Scott Gottlieb, and Deb Birx in the office with the usual WH crowd. They want me in on the discussion. A friend of POTUS (Tom Ellison of Ellison Foundation ?) said that he heards that someone gave Hydroxychloroquine (HC) to 51 people and 51 got better. POTUS has heard similar stories, including Remdesivir (R) about other drugs and wants to make these available. To my amazement and dismay, Azar said that he could approve HC and Remdesivir now with the powers that he has. Steve Hahn and to some extent Deb and Bob started to chime in that this would give people hope. I took a deep breath and said that this was wrong and should not be done. If you want expanded access (EA) of HC which is an approved drug, you can do it in an EA protocol and still get wide distribution and possibly learn something. I stated that with R it is different since this was not approved. In the chorus of eeveryone agreeing with the POTUS that we need to give hope to people, I insisted that we can do both, but in the context of a trial. To his credit, POTUS agreed with me as long as we get the drugs out there. They wanted to announce this today, but I convinced them to do so tomorrow when I am there. Below is an e-mail that I sent right after the conversation: