Tony's Diary Package — page 48

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 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