Dr. Anthony Fauci has warned of potentially “really serious” consequences to lifting lockdown measures too soon.
President Donald Trump faces mounting pressure from conservative allies to sideline Dr. Anthony Fauci after he further warned of “really serious” consequences to lifting coronavirus lockdown measures too soon.
The comments from Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, put him somewhat at odds with Trump and many of his supporters, who are pushing to get measures lifted so as to get the economy running once again.
“My concern is that we might start to see little spikes that will turn into outbreaks,” Fauci told the Senate Health Committee over video link, when commenting on the risks of areas re-opening too quickly.
“The consequences could be really serious. There is no doubt, even under the best of circumstances, when you pull back on mitigation you will see some cases appear.”
He said the ability to respond with “good identification, isolation and contact tracing,” will determine “whether you can continue to go forward as you try to re-open America.”
Trump has spoken of his desire for the nation to be back up and running “soon” and in a previous video shared by the White House said: “People want our country to open up.” He added his desire to do that in a safe way, with measures such as social distancing remaining.
Following his comments, Fauci faced criticism from conservatives, including allies of Trump and commentators who have often sided with the president.
