Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, clashed with a senator on Tuesday …
Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, clashed with a senator on Tuesday about when to reopen schools in America, acknowledging he did not have the final word on pandemic-related decisions but warning against being “cavalier” about the danger to children.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee that some predictions put forward by experts as to the path of the pandemic are likely to be proven wrong, and challenged the wisdom of extending school closures.
“We can listen to your advice, but there are people on the other side that are saying ‘There’s not going to be a surge and we can safely open the economy.’ The facts will bear this out,” Paul said during Fauci’s testimony to the Senate committee. [C-SPAN,1;28;20, re
“If we keep kids out of school for another year, what’s going to happen is the poor and underprivileged kids who don’t have a parent that’s able to teach them at home are not going to learn for a full year,” he said, adding that he believed it would be a “huge mistake if we don’t open the schools in the fall.”
“As much as I respect you, Dr. Fauci, I don’t think you’re the end-all,” Paul said. “I don’t think you’re the one person who gets to make a decision.”
Fauci replied, “I have never made myself out to be the end-all, or the only voice in this.”
“I’m a scientist, a physician, and a public health official. I give advice according to the best scientific evidence,” Fauci said. “I don’t give advice about economic things. I don’t give advice about anything other than public health.
