A single line often inverts meaning once you see what it
answers, so neighbouring messages are always shown.
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May 2, 2020 - Global - 3,200,000/225,000; USA - 1,100,000/65,000' Big push on the part of states >32 to rush to reopening, some like Texas and Georgia more than others. Militia-types in Michigan going to the Capitol armed and demanding of the Governor to "open up" Michigan. Much stress about the economy being destroyed. White House not allowing me to respond to request from Rosa DeLauro to testify before the House Committee. Makes front page news everywhere together with tweet storm. WH will allow me to testify before the Senate Help Committee. Situation very tense: Economic Policy White House blocks Fauci from testifying before House panel, committee spokesman says An Appropriations subcommittee sought to call the health official to testify next week Anthony S. Fauci in early April. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) By Erica Werner and Mike DeBonis
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May 3, 2020 (Sunday) - Global - 3,300,000/230,000; USA - 1,130,000/66,000 Continued big push tio re-open despite many states lacking the criteria to do so. Not on any Sunday shows. Washington Post article today states that the administration is cutting down media appearances by Deb and me and giving more to the economists, Kudlow, Mnuychin and Hassett. Theyare cutting me more than Deb. Fauci-maddness continues with multiple articles and every sort of paraphernalia and restaurant and foods named after me. Amazing aryicle in USA Today: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/05/03/coronavirus-white-houseexpert-dr-anthony-fauci-americans-trust/3042991001/ Straight-talking Dr. Anthony Fauci is the voice Americans want to hear right now. So, who is he? Marco della Cava USA TODAY AD 5:37 Dr. Anthony Stephen Fauci didn't grow up wanting to be famous. Mostly he just wanted to make a difference. But now a lifetime of service has flicked on a searing spotlight. Perhaps not since the late actor Jack Palance did one-armed push-ups at the 1991 Oscars at age 73 - YouTube it, millennials - has the nation been this seduced by a senior citizen. By virtue of his calm, Brooklyn-inflected White House briefings on coronavirus that frequently if diplomatically contradict statements by President Donald Trump, Fauci, 79, has become a meme, spawned fan clubs and been lovingly parodied by Brad Pitt. Fauci's longtime official title is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a part of the National Institutes of Health. But since becoming the face of this country's COVID-19 pandemic, the career immunologist who has battled everything from AIDS to Ebola is increasingly referred to as America's Doctor. And he's in the headlines again this week, having been barred by the White House from addressing House lawmakers Wednesday on the topic of the administration's response to the crisis. Instead, Fauci will meet with a GOP-led subcommittee on May 12. So just who is Tony Fauci? Interviews with friends and colleagues offer overlapping descriptions of a man as dedicated to hard work - endless hours peppered with power walks - as he is to his wife, scientist Christine Grady, and three accomplished daughters. They describe a man who takes as much pride in his Bolognese pasta sauce (the key, one friend says, is the long-simmering time) as he does in enduring relationships. He's a burger and beer at the bar guy, but also a public servant built for our trying times. "Tony's capable of elevating his game to whatever is needed, and more has been demanded of him now than in any time in his career," says Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. "In the eyes of the American public, he's the voice we need right now, one of credibility." infolded in the US Steven Gabbe met Fauci when both were at Cornell Medical College in New York City in the late 1960s, and "the person you see now on TV is the same guy I met back then, smart and humble." Gabbe, emeritus CEO of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, lauds his friend's sense of humor. "I'm sure he finds it entertaining that there are bobblehead dolls of him now," he says. "But he's so grounded I don't think it would go to his head." Fauci would be excused it if did. In a recent survey of 1,900 registered U.S. voters, Morning Consult asked respondents whom they would trust "a lot" or "some" to end social distancing. Fauci and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention topped the list among all voters with 71% trust ratings. Get the Coronavirus Watch newsletter in your inbox. Stay safe and informed with updates on the spread of the coronavirus Delivery: Varies Your Email Three months in:A timeline of how COVID-19 has unfolded in the US Such a high-profile status inevitably also has generated criticism. Right-wing pundits have assailed how shelter-in-place guidelines he supported have impacted the economy, leading conservative internet TV host Bill Mitchell to tweet "this Dr. Doom Fauci is the most depressing idiot I've ever listened to." That harsh assessment has some grounding in a real issue, says Jonathan Engel, professor at the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College, part of the City University of New York system. Sign up for our newsletter now. "Cost-benefit analysis is not the way Fauci thinks, he's a physician and immunologist," says Engel. "So that's where the frustration in some red states comes from. You're saving lives, but you're also destroying lives. Someone else needs to be there to step back and think about the whole picture, but that's not Fauci's role." Get daily coronavirus updates in your inbox:Sign up for our newsletter now. Critics ask: Did Fauci 'miss it'? Even some fellow scientists who praise Fauci's professional accomplishments suggest not only that he was late sounding the alarm, but that having one celebrated virus point person is dangerous. "In January, February and part of March there was one physician on show after show, him, and while he's great at explaining things, in terms of telling the country to get prepared, he missed it," says Marty Makary, professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "My concern is not with Anthony Fauci as much as it is in a media and policy world that puts its faith in one person." A SECON? OPINION... If anything, Fauci's rise highlights the fact that no one person regardless of their stature - his laurels include almost every scientific accolade short of a Nobel Prize - should hold all the reins when it comes to national and global pandemics. "Tony's taken on this big role in part because of the vacuum that exists," says David Relman, a Fauci friend and professor of medicine at Stanford University. "But what if the next pandemic destroys our food? Or a bioterror attack?" he says. "We need a new leadership system that sits inside the White House, where people have the authority to tell the Attorney General what to do, or the Federal Reserve or the Secretary of Defense, so you can move fast. Tony can't do that. No one can. The system needs to change." Fauci's current national stature indeed appears unique in U.S. history, says historian Douglas Brinkley of Rice University in Houston, citing past examples that fall short. In the late 1700s, a yellow fever outbreak in Philadelphia caused President George Washington to flee the city, leaving in charge the preeminent doctor and fellow Founding Father, Benjamin Rush. When President Woodrow Wilson got sick while visiting Paris during World War I, many scholars believe his physician and his wife were running the country for a spell. "So you have moments when doctors have become the voice of the country, but nothing like this," says Brinkley. "The straight talking Fauci is what you want to hear, much like if you go to a doctor you don't want spin or blarney." Brinkley says after the coronavirus pandemic starts to recede, Fauci is likely to go down in history "as one of few scientists who are now household names." Some suggest Fauci enjoys this new spotlight too much. Although an NIAID press officer said Fauci was too busy for an interview, the doctor's media appearances are frequent and varied, from network news and comedy shows to online interviews with sports icons such as basketball star Steph Curry. Fauci Pouchys and 'Docta Fauci' And yet the public can't seem to get enough. The Anthony Fauci Fan Club on Twitter has 24,000 followers and a pinned tweet that reads: "If you don't have a crush on this man, do you even care about public health?" New York-based singer Missy Modell rewrote the lyrics to Lady Gaga's 2008 hit "Paparazzi" to rhyme with "Docta Fauci." Her Instagram hit includes the line, "Tony, there's no other superstar except for Andy," New York governor Andrew Cuomo. Fauci's likeness is splashed on coffee mugs, T-shirts and even donuts. In Washington, D.C., the town Fauci calls home, Capo's Speakeasy teamed up with a real estate company to sell Fauci Pouchy to-go drinks, cocktails in seethrough sealed bags emblazoned with the doctor's image. At Chef Geoff's in northwest D.C., Fauci and his wife, a nurse bioethicist at the NIH, are regulars who in pre-virus times would pull up bar stools and order Chef Geoff Burgers and beers, says owner Geoff Tracy. He posted a sign warning take-out customers, "Dr. Antony Fauci is a long time guest and he wants SIX FEET." "He's a genuinely nice human being, and I deal with a lot who aren't sometimes," says Tracy, whose wife, CBS anchor Norah O'Donnell, has interviewed Fauci over the years. Tracy says Fauci's sudden ascent into the pop culture firmament doesn't surprise him. But he doubts it phases Fauci. DR ANTHONY MAUCI IS A Lomo TIME GUEST AND HE WANTS SIX FEET Pom THE GAPOTY Ge ak OF Un oer BAO Ce Ge he ec, Boe = eb ob ee ee FS -- "My father-in-law is an infectious disease doctor, and these guys not about picking fights or the limelight," says Tracy. "They're about sharing information and guiding you. And no one's better at that than Tony." Fauci recently told an interviewer he appreciated the way "classy" actor Brad Pitt played him on a recent Saturday Night Live stay-at-home broadcast, this after Fauci said in an interview that Pitt would be his top choice for someone to impersonate him on the show. But friends note celebrities don't really phase him. Stanford professor Relman, who focuses on microbiology and immunology, recalls talking to Fauci about the time U2 singer Bono, who has focused his philanthropy on Africa, wanted to discuss disease issues with Fauci. vernors "Tony thought it would cause too big a scene at the NIH, so he just told Bono to come over to his house," says Relman. "Bono did, but Tony forgot that that might completely freak out his daughters, which it did. Those are just his circles. His ability to talk honestly about important matters causes people to seek him out." Study:Americans trust Fauci more than Trump or their own governors Fauci's hoop dreams dashed by height Fauci grew up in Brooklyn the grandson of Italian immigrants. His parents ran a pharmacy. He did deliveries on his bicycle, while his older sister Denise ran the register. In past interviews, Fauci hasn't revealed much about his hard-working upbringing except to say that it laid the foundation for a life ultimately devoted to science and public service. Fauci went to Regis High School in Manhattan, which required commuting for hours on buses and subways. Although a stand-out basketball player, his height, 5-foot-7, prompted him to look for a career outside sports. For college, he attended Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, which like Regis was run by Jesuits, whose educational philosophy seeks to meld spirituality - Fauci is a lifelong Catholic - with social justice. The experience was formative, says Eric Goosby, a distinguished professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who met Fauci in the 1980s and has been a frequent guest at his friend's pasta Bolognese dinners. ("He'll call me days before to make sure I'm still coming," he says with a laugh.) "Tony was deeply affected by exposure to the Jesuit order, which fostered in him a self-expectation of service," says Goosby. "This guy goes to sleep and wakes up asking, 'Have I done everything I can do?' It's in his DNA." As is a fierce work ethic. In summers during college, Fauci worked construction. As the story goes, one job found him helping on a new building at the Cornell Medical College. Fauci vowed one day he would be an alum, and made it happen. "That story says it all to me," says his friend Gabbe. "He just has this powerful drive that won't be stopped. The same thing happened when he graduated and told people he was going to the NIH to study infectious diseases. People told him they were all conquered, this was a career-killer move. Not long after, AIDS hit." Fauci's role in the AIDS epidemic changed him. At first, he tackled the growing crisis with a measured, data-driven approach to trying to find a treatment. But that methodical tack infuriated gay activists watching friends die daily. "Initially, Fauci was very rigid in his approach to AIDS and people like (gay rights activist and playwright) Larry Kramer got in his face, calling him the worst things," says Baruch College professor Engel, who wrote "The Epidemic: A Global History of AIDS." "And to Fauci's credit, he got it and he changed." Fauci had been seen as the detached scientific face of an uncaring administration led by President Ronald Reagan, late to understanding the scope of the AIDS crisis. Fauci started to meet with members of the gay rights community and quickly understood the need to include those who were suffering in finding a solution. Goosby, who was running of one the nation's first AIDS clinics in the late '80s, recalls attending a meeting with Fauci in Washington, D.C. The gathering was attacked by ACT UP activists, who locked the meeting's attendees, there to discuss new drugs to fight HIV, inside the hall with chains. "A lot of us were nervous and scared of possible violence," Goosby recalls. "But Tony looked at us and said, 'This is our chance to learn about the frustrations of the community. It's an opportunity for us to learn and serve.' I'll never forget that." Fauci turned enemies into allies That shift in attitude - away from the rigidity of scientific pursuits and towards an embrace of the human reality - soon turned enemies into lifelong friends, says Matt Sharp, a San Francisco-based AIDS survivor and activist who was part of many ACT UP protests in the nation's capital aimed at calling out Fauci. "What developed was a very interesting mutual respect, where you have a hero who once was an enemy," says Sharp. "Once we got him to relate to us and our reality, trust was established. Today, the AIDS community is glad he's the one leading this effort right now." Over what is now nearly a 50-year career with the NIH, Fauci has worked for presidents as philosophically wide-ranging as Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, helping them through crises that included the post-9/11 anthrax scares, SARS in 2003, H1N1 in 2009 and Ebola in 2014. Those who know Fauci marvel at how he keeps his political leanings private. "I honestly don't know if he's a Democrat or Republican," says Sharp. "But I know he's got an amazing grace and an ability to cut through the b-----. That's his genius." That skill is particularly valuable now, as Fauci continues to navigate his truthtelling role for a president whose response to criticism often is dismissal. "He has always had a knack for telling it like it is, and letting the political chips fall where they may," says Stanford's Relman. "Don't forget, Tony Fauci is proud card-carrying New Yorker. He has a blunt, endearing and no-nonsense New York attitude, and I think Trump kind of gets that." Indeed, a brief #FireFauci firestorm that flared in the wake of Fauci appearing to show exasperation at the president's coronavirus remarks ended with Trump saying Fauci wasn't going anywhere. That's probably just fine with Fauci. He may not get much sleep these days, and he's contending with political forces dueling over just how much reopening the country will lead to another coronavirus case spike and then more shutdowns. But friends insist he'd wouldn't want to be anywhere other than in this hot seat. Says Osterholm of the University of Minnesota: "I would go so far as to say Tony's been the right man for the job for several decades now." The recipe for that success perhaps can be found in remarks Fauci made around this time in 2016 to the graduating class at Ohio State University. Fauci started out by telling the graduates - in his trademark Brooklyn patois that made "honor" sound like on-AH and "poverty" like PAW-vaty - that if they're like him, they'll soon forget every word their commencement speaker said. Then over the next 12 succinct minutes, Fauci laid out five credos to live by: Be a perpetual student, expect the unexpected, embrace public service, lead by example, and, finally, pursue happiness. As prescriptions go, Fauci has taken his own medicine. When he is at that West Wing lectern, he seems to radiate a sense of satisfaction at simply being of service despite the attendant slings and arrows of the post. "Different pursuits provide joy," Fauci urged the gradates. "Find your source of joy, and embrace it." ................................................................................................ ..... Important and somewhat ridiculous issue with Pence wanting to come to NIH to thank the people at VRC and show his appreciation. He got into trouble at Mayo Clinic last week since he went there and did not wear a mask when everyone lse had a mask on and the press killed him. I had an agreement with Marc Short that the VP would come to the VRC on Tuesday , April 5 and go upstairs and meet the scientists. The rules of VRC are that masks must be worn in the labs. Marc said that the VP would wear a mask in the labs, but when we go downstairs to the lobby to have TF meeting followed by presser, that he would not have to wear a mask since we never wear masks at TF New York Times and among several. 142,000/67,000 ~ to thank people in the meetings. All was well until Olivia Troye called me in a panic today saying that the POTUS does not want the VP to wear a mask since it is a bad optic for opening up (I cannot understand this reasoning). Nonetheless , the VP will not wear a mask and so we are saying that he should not come. I refuse to give in. Poor Olivia is caught in the middle. We shall see what happens. PRESS: Several articles about me in print papers - New York Times and Washington Post among several.
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May 4, 2020 - Global - 3,350,000/239,000; USA - 1,142,000/67,000 Continued tension in GOP states wanting to re-open in defiance of many of the recommended guidelines and Dem states the opposite. It is almost a political and ideological dichotomy CNN - Jake Tapper did a segment last night on the inadequate response of the Trump administration to the pandemic. I came out relatively well. VP Call with Governors from Sit Room. Again, it seemed like a lot of happy talk, particularly from GOP governors saying that they are doing well and 40 states have submitted their plans for re-opening. They seem to indicate that most have what they need regarding tests, etc. Yet, when you spek to the locals, that is not always the case. Real crazy-town today. VP wanted to come to VRC to thank people in the labs at VRC working on a COVID-19 vaccine. However, despite the problem he got into at Mayo, his staff (Olivia Troye) told me he would not wear a mask. This despite the fact that he did wear one at GM and admitted that it was a mistake not to wear one at Mayo. Turns out the reason is that Trump did not want him to wear a mask since it would be a bad signal in his quest to re-open the country (totally crazy!). Nonetheless, we worked out a compromise whereby he would come to VRC, not go upstairs and would have a Task Force meeting in the first floor conference room. No one would wear masks, but the 0,000/69,000 yunger researchers would not present to him. This defeats the purpose of the visit, which was to thank the young researchers. We thought that we had it all worked out with Francis greeting the VP and I and John Mascola take over. Not so easy. Francis calls me in distress late that evening and says that he looked at his recent message to NIH community that says everyone should wear a mask on campus, every place and at all times. Therefore, we have to disinvite the VP. Much stress. Marc Short came to the rescue with a plan to do this without creating a shit-storm. We cancelled the visit to VRC, will bring John, Barney and Francis to White House and have the TF meeting concentrating on work at the VRC where John and I will explain our vaccine efforts for COVID. (WTF???). All this because the VP listened to the POTUS and would not wear a mask. That night I did CNN with Cuomo (see below). We spoke about the new models showing 3000 deaths pe day and about 134,000 total deaths if we back off on mitigation the way the POTUS is pushing. During the interview, Chris gave a wonderful explanation to viewers how close and good friends we are and how I checked in on him every night including weekends for weeks during his COVID illness. Never saw something like that on TV. He praised me such that Megan (who was watching live) said it almost brought her to tears. PRESS: CNN with Chris Cuomo
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May 5, 2020 - Global - 3,500,000/240,000; USA - 1,200,000/69,000 OMG! This is really getting nutsy. Sally Quinn evidently wrote a book some time ago about a character that is me: https://www.washingtonian.com/2020/05/05/sally-quinn-modeled-the-erotic-hero-of-her1991-bestseller-on-anthony-fauci/ The Maureen Dowd sends me an e-mail: "I can see it" Did a TF meeting today in the Sit Room (see above) displaying the NIH (esp. VRC) vaccine effort. I took Barney Graham, John Mascola (who presented) and Francis Collins. We successfully got VP to understand the NIH intramural and extramural. Got call from Paula Reid asking about a story in the New York Times that the WH is disbanding the Task Force. I told her that this was news to me. I also made peace with her about the "confrontation" at a press conference that we had a few weeks back (see above) Today's USA Today: In the face of a pandemic, Memarles of Matalie Wood Don Shula, teachers get their due as told by her daughter architect of A porron of pees eluices who Soe ee Dalle of apdc bore, tinged by Hothyecesd exci, the 'perfect' (hr eygord head of Gee cha Stations Bett sancdde in rere nok red cecurneniary. ines Sea50M, dies = The HFCs winningest ooh bed thes Daishiee i fo TF-O. glory and forsee THE MATPONS NEWS I #2 I TUESDAY, MAYS, 2020 Spmvertstion i eperta Feds consider relaxing * to come h trol ee hursing home Controls eee Le pcorieeeetie Opponents say change ee oe pongan ie aeee ig tas ee es would put people ai risk tee ate ase niet eee. 'thay cx: nemnop ism Psocransies' eae sacred eal ry TOWatebaa camel wih au the roaze booke so resp ned Trica. 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In rece nurvey oF 120 regiriered LS. voter,» 'ere aakes whevi hey would trusi "akotTM oreo" ic and nocta . An core Fea snd the Coriore for Dieanme Covi ane Preveriion iopped (ies ect wth TR brut: nang woos Oversight of antibody tests Gracty, ond Gaugiriers aire ecco FDA pare reer socurscy mancorce DA Foect check: Wuhan lab Cad Pacoent Obata mec 1 Poor? oh Wirtual intamns aro a thing io office? He probe Fon chee Fico. 1 is gaan to weer i nmttied, and mmcre has. ben aor eed of bil nw han Qn aeny thm in: hen career," Michael Onerholm ee oe Sr imc Che ee rd Posy Sacco the -vedos of the Cue y aL "Go oo Boe Ea COT OF a LA The story behind Anthomy Fauci, the expert who became an icon Marcodela Coma waco ox. Shechern: Reord chicds'4 po wart Pa asi inp pa are] woe. hb cere lictiee of eet hee Bick oo pr i sn: pro Pe oee-errnnd posh-cpo ad the 0 Checern ad ge 7D TootTube E, ---- hae the natice: bern this meierad bye ay ite of bn patron Drepkipsadece! White Set lat ee : 73, how beers card yin eS ek oe ee a fade i dimricr off the sia in A Whegy ood infection Diesen part of bee Morten! buetttutem of Hlth. ut ster COWIE D es tar bettie sya fram AA to hela ts ormni nghy noferred fota enn fo famine reas thie week, having, ban. baracd by the White Hocer From por ar wi oy Fa offre oer. lapping deeiptions of a cm fc homed phase down the TF and was that true. Another bit of craziness: Paula Read of CBS called my cell and said that the NY Times was reporting that WH was going to phase down the TF and was that true. I told her that I had not heard that and it was news to me. She apparently reports this on CBS and soon after, I get a call from Katie Miller saying that I am contradicting the VP since when reporters asked him (someone leaked it from the WH), he admitted that they were going in that direction. Katie says that I should sexually assaulted not have said to Paula that I had not heard about this. I should have said I will get back to you. I pushed back strongly. This is bullshit. The reporter asks if I had heard about this and I said no. It would have been ridiculous to say anything else. Finally Katie admitted thatr she had not even heard about it before the media announced it. CRAZY TOWN!! The woman who held the press conference call today (Karen Draper) saying that she worked for me for 2 years and I sexually assaulted her flopped. There were 6 people on the call and the Buzzfeed reporter pointed out that he checked her out and there was no record of her ast NIH ever. Also, he pointed out that she pronounced my name Dr. Foouchi and so she could not have worked for me for 2 years. This is the second flopped accusation. (see above). Much press on Trump blocking emfrom testifying before the House while allowing me to testify before the Senate. Also, media frenzy regarding Trump planning to phase out the TF. He does say that Deb and I will remain as scientific advisors (whatever that means). My prediction is that Deb will stay in the WH and I will remain at NIH and only do minor peripheral stuff. ............................................................................ Tonight I had the usual 8:30 PM weekly "medical community" meeting (this is the 4th meeting) chaired by David Barr. He gets on the teleconference the following: Balter (LA County); Allison Arwady (Chicago); Demitre Daskalakis (NYC); LaQuandra Nesbitt (DC); Jeff Duchin (Seattle). They have the same issue - mostly problem with testing, not enough, shortage of swabs, extraction material, media, long wait for results. I keep bringing this up to TF and TF (Giroir and Jared) do happy talk. 200,000/7 1,000 ause of the shutdown. yw says that he will continue the TF yut the misinformation regarding the
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2020-05-06 00:00
Anthony S. Fauci
May 6, 2020 - Global - 3,53,000/245,000; USA - 1,200,000/71,000 Begin day with uncertainty about the fate of the TF as well as the fact that there is great discord in the country regarding opening abruptly versus continued careful mitigation. It is clear thsat Trump and advisors are concentrating only on opening and saving the economy for the election in November. To be fair, we should consider that there are unintended consequences in my area of health. Had conversation with Bob Redfield lastr night about the fact that >1 million children world-wide have missed their measles vaccinations because of the shutdown. This is terrible and needs to be addressed since on that basis alone, there would be far, far more excess deaths from measles among children than coronavirus deaths among children. I need to bring this up at TF meeting. Trump does complete turnaround and now says that he will continue the TF indefinitely since he has gotten so many call from "good people" who tell him that the TF has do a "great job" and he should not dissolve it. Katie Miller and I laugh at each other in the Sit Room (see above). At TF meeting VP apologizes to me about the misinformation regarding the dissolution of the Tf and how that oput me in an awkward position with the media (see above). He admikts that he was "blindsided" since someone (likely Jared) leaked the story without telling Pence (Yikes!). I also took the opportunity together with Deb Birx who was there for the conversation that it is clear that Deb and I are being blocked from appearing the press (specifically national TV). I explained to Pence that I was formerly doing 2 TV hits per day and now I am doing 1 and at the most 2 per week with nothing on Sundays. He was surprised and said he would speak with Kayleigh about it. Also, they want to beef up the TF with both economists and some additional medical people. Marc Short and Pence sked me to ask Francis Collins to join. I spoke with Francis tonight and , as expected, Francis would do it even though it would be an added burden of work piled on an already packed schedule. A bit unusual that they would have 2 NIH people on TF. '10,000/73,000 Got rather unusual phone call from Larry Horowitz arranged by Anna Eschoo (DCA). He was asking questions about Rick Bright, likely related to tomorrow's Hearing on the Whistleblower issue and his getting fired from BARDA. I was careful in response. Larry said he had many e-mails (from January, 2020) where Rick was calling attention to fact that we needed supplies for the SNS (masks, PPE, ets) and Kadlec was not listening. The e-mail make Kadlec look bad. Larry wanted to know if I knew about these e-mails. I had never seen them. They were all e-mails within ASPR/HHS/BARDA. Trouble looming with the distribution of the Remdesivir that was donated by Gilead. Kadlec with Adm. P given task of distributing the drug equitably and eithically (Chris was consulted) to the hospitals that needed it. VP at the end of the TF meeting asked Azar, Kadlec, Adm. P, Deb and then unexpectedly me to get on the phone tonight and by tomorrow have a solution to what was perceived as a misalignment of distribution. It was clear from discussion last night that someone (likely Kadlec and ASPR) screwed up since in NYC, it was clear (and I picked it up right away) that the hospitals such as Cornell and Columbia did not get drug while Queens Hospital and Lincoln Hospital got drug. There is a furor about his screwup and Deb is not hesitating to call it out. May 7,2020 - Global - 3,600,000/248,000; USA - 1,210,000/73,000 Phone call with Secretary Azar about how to fix this problem. Cluster in process. Deb does not show up for phone call. Francis at Hearing today aimed at the Rick Bright issue. Not much problem for Francis. Big Cluster regarding the mis-distribution of Remdesivir. FEMA dropped the ball. They were supposed to distribute through ASPR the drug accoding to need of hospitalized patients in states. Deb Birx made it clear in an e-mail to Pete Gayno (FEMA Director) that the drug should be distributed according to need. article today: Gaynor either did not read the e-mail or blew it off. What happened was that FEMA told ASPR (Kadlec) to distribute the drug to 7 states (at first) according to population of the States with indicating any relationship to hospitalized patients. Kadlec balked and FEMA (working with Navy Adm. Polowcyzc) said "stand down andsend it". Bob caved in and off it went. And so some hospitals with few or no patients got lost of drugs and hospitals like Cornell, Columbia and NYU got no drug. A hospital received drug that was not aware of the cold-chain requirement. Drug ruined. People started complaining and the press got hold of it and is now reporting about lack of transparency. FEMA is saying that the plan of distribution was an HHS and Task Force plan. Deb went ballistic and the press are buzzing around. Washington Post article today: Sally Quinn Modeled the Erotic Hero of Her 1991 Bestseller on...Anthony Fauci Yes, that Anthony Fauci. In the novel, the character romances the first lady. Written by Benjamin Wofford I Published on May 5, 2020 Salon: '40,000/75,200; This article appeared in Salon: Woman who accused Dr. Anthony Fauci of sexual assault now claims Trump supporters paid her to lie Diana Andrade claims right-wing provocateur Jacob Wohl and frequent accomplice Jack Burkman were behind the scheme Travis Gettys
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May 7, 2020 4:09PM (UTC) Media blitz, stories (mostly good, but some critical) abound with dozens per day. Truly unbelievable. People naming their dogs after me. Sally Quinn saying that I was the erotic lead male in a book she wrote in 1994. She had met me at a dinner that year. And on and on. Still press is fixating on my not being allowed to testify before the Dem House but testifying before the GOP Senate
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May 8, 2020 - Global - 3,670,000/254,000; 1,240,000/75,200; COVID-19 hits the White House!! . We had our pre-brief for the Senate HELP Hearing on May 12 and we are trying to decide whether to call off the Hearing or do it virtually. If we postpone hearing, there will be political blowback from the Dems. If we do it, people will say we are violating our own public health recommendation. Tough situation. It is my impression that there will be several more infections in the WH over the next few days. They should do everything virtually. Mark Meadows wants to delare TF members as essential workers and test us every day for 10 days and wear masks, 6 ft distance and come to work. CDC people first said that all in the room should quarantine for 14 days. We are trying to work this out. I strongly disagree with switching to 10 days. That would be an unforced error as far as PR is concerned. I am OK with testing every day, wearing mask and doing mostly telework for 14 days. Let us see what happens tomorrow. Science article: yn CohenMay. 8, 2020 , 6:20 PM 270,000/77,000 ; closest to Katie is going into Crazy Judy Mikovits. See Science article:
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May 9, 2020 - Global - 3,760,000/260,000; USA - 1,270,000/77,000 Trying to figure out policy for addressing the infection on WH complex. Big breaking news tonight! Steve Hahn who was closest to Katie is going into strict 14 date home quarantine. Bob Redfield who had a moderate exposure is also saying he is going itnom14 day quarantine (when in fact he will gointo his office). Jake Tapper called me and asked whether I was going inot quarantine. I explained to Jake that I would do a "modified quarantine" since I was a low risk exposure to Kstie. Thid merans that I will get tested every day, would wear a mask ontinually, and would spend most of my time either alone in my home office or alone in my NIH office and would go to White House or Congress with precautions of universal mask wearing and phycial distancing. I tested negative yesterday and will get tested every day for 14 days and then 1 time per week afterwards. This went viral with calls from multiple neywroks to confirm the CNN story and from people like Dani Bolognesi worried that I was actually infected. ,290,000/79,000 to check and see if I was Marc Short and others close to Katie really should do some sort of quarantine (even if modified), but they are not even wearing masks. Not a good metric. PRESS: I am all over the news regarding my "modified quarantine" (see above)
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May 10, 2020 - Global - 4,150,000/283,000; USA - 1,290,000/79,000 Much flurry over the press wanting to understand the difference between a modified quarantine and a total quarantine. I am explaining. Also, I do not want to do the Hearing in person on Tuesday, but Mark meadows is getting pressure from the POTUS and others in WH to have me do it in person. It would give mixed signals given my statement of Modified Quarantine. It would be an unforced error if I did. We finally decided that all 4 witnesses (Giroir, Fauci, Hahn and Redfield would do it virtually. President Trump called my cell while I was at home to check and see if I was OK, having heard that I was in semi-quarantine. Reports from all over the world including USA of children who are SARS-CoV-2 infected who develop a Kawasaki-like syndrome. NIH will start to study these children. We have heard from UK and Italy. Many e-mails from friends concerned about me. Some misinterpreted and thought that I was actually infected (Mike Gerson) Reports of countries and some states in the USA that are opening up and triggering blips and rebounds. Actually the curve of new infections is flat (at a high level). ,320,000/79,500 /-fauci-held-hostage-by-trump-during-feeding841 It is flat because cities like NYC and NO are going down while others are going up. Up + Down = Flat PRESS: Heavy TV and print cover of Hahn, Redfield and I going into quarantine.