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Dr. Anthony Fauci has revealed that the president has not been directly involved in COVID-19 Taskforce meetings for “several months” despite a continued rise in cases.
Fauci says they have cut down to one virtual meeting a week which the president has not been attending. Instead, the taskforce communicates with Vice President Mike Pence.
The president is later briefed on the meetings.
“We certainly interact with the vice president at the task force meetings, and the vice president makes our feelings and what we talk about there known to the president,” Fauci told MSNBC’s Chuck Todd.
The 74-year-old Fauci has been director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 and one of the most respected voices during the coronavirus pandemic.
Fauci, who has advised six presidents, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2008.
The coronavirus mainly comes from animals and a majority of those who were infected early either worked at or frequently visited the Huanan seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, according to The Guardian. The virus is similar to Severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (Mers).
The Wuhan coronavirus is transmitted from person to person through “droplet transmission.” That means an infected person can pass the virus by sneezing or coughing on another person as well as by direct contact.
While a majority of the cases have been detected in the United States and China — with more than 8.46 million confirmed cases and 223,000 deaths in the United States — it has now reached many countries around the world. It has also been confirmed in Italy, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and many other eastern countries.
