White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci warns young people about "propagating the pandemic." He asks them to take the coronavirus seriously.
“You have to have responsibility for yourself but also a societal responsibility that you’re getting infected is not just you in a vacuum. You’re propagating the pandemic,” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in an interview.
Dr. Fauci's statements came as state health officials say that more young Americans are disregarding social distancing measures and testing positive for coronavirus at a higher rate. He said that the average age of a new Covid-19 patient has declined by 15 years since the start of the pandemic in the US.
According to Vice President Mike Pence, roughly half of the new cases in the US were individuals under the age of 35, particularly in Texas and Florida.
Dr. Fauci noted that young people going to bars is “totally understandable.” However, he warned that those who are asymptomatic, who do not develop symptoms, can also transmit the virus on to others.
“I get that,” he said Thursday. “I was there at one point in my life. Or see people in crowds and you say well, they think they’re not doing anything that’s particularly harmful, but they might be.”
The top infectious disease expert said that doctors and infectious disease specialists were recording “more and more” complications with Covid-19 in young people.
According to researchers, the virus may be sparing young Americans while being severe for the elderly and those with preexisting health conditions.
That is not the case, according to Fauci. “To think young people have no deleterious consequences is not true. We’re seeing more and more complications in young people," he said during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on June 23.
Fauci stressed he has never seen a single virus have such diverse range of symptoms.
Some people do not manifest symptoms while “some get mild symptoms and some get symptoms enough to put them at home for a few days. Some are in bed for weeks and have symptoms even after they recover, others go to the hospital, some require oxygen, some require intensive care, some get intubated and some die,” he noted.
Criticisms against Dr. Fauci
President Donald Trump's administration is seeking to discredit the infectious disease expert as surges in coronavirus cases continue across the US. In his op-ed published Tuesday, Trump’s trade advisor Peter Navarro slammed Fauci because he “has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on.”
A White House official revealed to NBC News that “several White House officials are concerned about the number of times Dr. Fauci has been wrong on things.”
NBC News received a copy of a list of past statements made by Dr. Fauci earlier in the pandemic from the official. This is seen as the basis why the White House may discredit Dr. Fauci.
In response, Dr. Fauci told “The Atlantic” he has no idea about the reasons behind the criticisms. He affirmed that he stands by the things he said about the coronavirus pandemic.
“Contextually, at the time I said it, it was absolutely true … [The White House document] is totally wrong. It’s nonsense. It’s completely wrong. The whole thing is wrong. The whole thing is incorrect,” he said.
