Dr. Anthony Fauci of the USA is one of the great public health heroes of our times

Last updated on 31st March 2020

Having seen quite a lot of Dr. Anthony Fauci on Internet videos over the past few days, I am now convinced that this man is one of the great public health heroes of our times, not only in the USA, but beyond. I live in India, and I have learned a great deal about dangers of the novel coronavirus pandemic by listening to Dr. Fauci! He communicates so well to laymen like me, without using too much of scientific and medical jargon which could make some laymen switch off.

Dr. Fauci: Trump 'got it right away' when he saw new coronavirus data,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ksi9rL2sDXo, 12 min. 40 secs, published by CNN on 30th March 2020.

Around 3 mins 8 secs, Dr. Fauci says, "As he [President Trump] said multiple times at the press conference yesterday, his first goal is to prevent suffering and death. And we made it very clear to him that if we pulled back on what we were doing and didn't extend them, there would be more avoidable suffering and avoidable death. So it is a pretty clear decision on his part."

Around 3 mins. 40 secs, Dr. Fauci says, "Interestingly, we showed him [President Trump] the data. He looked at the data and he got it right away. It was a pretty clear picture. Dr. Debbie Birx and I went in together in the Oval Office and leaned over the desk and said, 'Here are the data. Take a look.' He looked at them and he understood them and he just shook his head and said, I guess we got to do it [extend social distancing guidelines till the end of April].

Around 4 mins. 18 secs, Dr. Fauci says, "From a public health standpoint, we felt strongly that it would have been the wrong decision to pull back [on social distancing guidelines]. I mean, we are scientists, physicians, public health officials. We are not economists. We are sensitive to the idea that the economy could suffer. But it was patently obvious looking at the data, that at the end of the day, if we tried to push (pull?) back prematurely, not only would we lose lives but it probably would hurt the economy. So you would lose on double accounts. (So to us), there was no question what the right choice was."

Around 6 min. 50 secs, Dr. Fauci says, "If you look at seasonal flu, we had a bad season in 2017-18. We lost over 60,000 people just in a seasonal flu. This [Covid-19 caused by novel coronavirus] is clearly worse than that. So I would not be surprised - I don't want to see it - I would like to avoid it. But I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a hundred thousand deaths."

Around 8 min. 33 secs, the interviewer asks, "In terms of public health, one of the most important things in a public health crisis, is public trust. How important is the consistent message in a public health crisis?"
Dr. Fauci responds, "Well, it is important. That's the reason why, if you go back and take a look at the things I have said (over) the last several weeks, they are really rather consistent. I mean, almost word for word. Sometimes, as we get more cases, you know, I get a little bit more emphatic about what we should do and that's the reason why I made a big pitch to do a couple of things over the last couple of days: 1. To not quarantine New York."

Around 9 mins. 25 secs, the interviewer says, "Testing. Right now, New York City or New York state I should say, is developing or has developed the test that can be taken with saliva and a nasal swab - a self-test. How important is this to battle the Coronavirus?"
Dr. Fauci responds, "You know I think it is very important. Because what you want, if you are going to immediately identify, isolate and contact-trace a person, so that you could quickly get them out of society and stop spreading (to) other people, you want a test that you know the answer right away. One of the problems with tests that you get back several days later is that you generally let that person, who might actually be infected, to go back into society, and inadvertently be infecting other people, while you are waiting for the result of the test. So if you really want to do what I mentioned just a moment ago, to really get the handle on those areas where they don't have a lot of infected individuals, who you want to effectively identify, isolate and contact trace, you want the result of the test in real-time. You want to know exactly what you are dealing with, at the time you are dealing with it."

Around 11 mins 35 secs, Interviewer says to Dr. Fauci, "... there are so many people writing in, first of all, grateful for the work you are doing. But also frankly concerned (about) how hard you are working. You know, you are talking yourself hoarse like many of us do on TV. So, how are you doing through all this, in this hard work [Dr. Fauci has a small laugh] and what do you want to tell the American people about your own health and well being?"
Dr. Fauci responds, "Well, I am fine. I am healthy. I am tired. I don't get nearly enough sleep as I should. This is not my regular voice. I am constantly briefing people, talking, testifying, doing interviews - it's a long day. I work pretty much (long?) hours anyway. But I am getting only about 4 or 5 hours of sleep - mostly 4 hours of sleep a night. There's a lot of things to do. When you are working in the White House, it is a very, very busy place."

Interviewer: "We are grateful for the work you are doing Doctor Fauci. We are grateful for your consistent message. Thank you for coming on this morning and telling us the things you have seen and what you need to see, going forward. Appreciate it, sir."

Dr. Fauci: "My pleasure".

[I thank CNN and Dr. Fauci, and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above transcript-snippets from their above video on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever. Note that this post deals with the novel coronavirus / Covid-19 pandemic which is causing immense suffering across the world.]
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Go inside a NYC hospital on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgpSC__Nxso, around 10 mins.
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Marathon runner: Coronavirus was taking over my body, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPM8v1z2xtg, around 7 mins.
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FDNY paramedic: Coronavirus brought me to tears for the first time in my 17-year career, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U1wyGEt1V4, 7 min. 28 secs.
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