Fauci tests positive for Covid-19:According to the announcement made by the institute on Wednesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and primary medical adviser to President Biden, has tested positive for the presence of the virus known as Covid-19.
According to a statement released by the institute, Fauci, 81, is experiencing moderate symptoms and has received two doses of a booster. CNN was told by the institute that the antiviral medicine Paxlovid is being used to treat him at this time.
According to the NIAID, Fauci learned that he had a positive result on a fast antigen test. The director will continue to follow the agency’s routine while working from home and will only go back to the National Institutes of Health site when his tests come back negative.
At a hearing held by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on Thursday, Fauci was slated to deliver a speech on the current state of the federal government’s reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic as well as strategies to manage the epidemic. According to the agency, he will participate in the meeting via videoconference.
According to the institution, Fauci has not had any recent face-to-face interactions with Biden or any other high-ranking officials.
Throughout the entirety of the pandemic, he has advocated for extreme caution and has shown it himself at several public occasions. After weighing the pros and drawbacks of attending, he decided against going to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April. This decision was based on his own personal risk assessment.
According to what he told CNN, “each one of us, in our own particular way, has to make an evaluation of what risk you’re ready to accept about getting infected.” “The risk is rather minimal in general, but I nevertheless performed an individual analysis. I am 81 years old, so if I were to become infected, the consequences would be far more severe for me.”
Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Fauci has been continuously working. In May, he stated that he had not taken a vacation since Covid-19 arrived in the United States.
Since 1984, he has served in the role of director of the NIAID, and he has provided advice to seven different presidents.
Fauci is the latest member of a growing list of leaders in the Biden administration who have tested positive for Covid-19. This list already includes White House adviser on domestic policy Susan Rice, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.