Possibly it was solely a matter of time.
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, President Biden’s high medical adviser for the coronavirus pandemic, has examined constructive for Covid-19 and is experiencing “delicate signs,” the Nationwide Institute of Allergy and Infectious Illnesses mentioned Wednesday.
Dr. Fauci, the institute’s director, was constructive on a fast antigen check, the company mentioned in a press release. It added that he’s absolutely vaccinated in opposition to the virus and has been boosted twice.
The 81-year-old Dr. Fauci has not just lately been in shut contact with President Biden or different senior authorities officers and would “isolate and proceed to work from his residence,” the assertion mentioned. He’ll return to his workplace as soon as he exams detrimental.
Together with different high federal well being officers, Dr. Fauci was anticipated to testify on Thursday earlier than the Senate Well being Committee on the state of the pandemic; an official mentioned Dr. Fauci’s institute was working with committee employees to rearrange for a distant look.
Whereas a lot of the nation seems to be attempting to maneuver on, the coronavirus stays a menace. In accordance with a New York Occasions database, greater than 100,000 new circumstances are nonetheless being recognized every day in america — a determine that has stayed roughly flat throughout the month of June. Many specialists imagine the quantity is an undercount as a result of so many individuals are taking at-home exams whose outcomes should not recorded with public well being authorities.
Whereas circumstances are declining within the Northeast and Midwest, circumstances and hospitalizations are surging within the West and South. Stories of deaths, nevertheless, stay low. Fewer than 350 deaths are being reported every day, the Occasions database exhibits, down from greater than 2,600 a day on the peak of the Omicron surge.
The constructive check was the primary for Dr. Fauci, one of many world’s foremost infectious illness specialists. He has spent 50 years in authorities and has suggested seven presidents, starting with Ronald Reagan, on epidemic and pandemic threats.
However the coronavirus pandemic turned Dr. Fauci right into a political lightning rod. His public urging of well being precautions like mask-wearing and social distancing made him a frequent goal of critics who questioned or opposed such measures.
Maybe greater than anybody, he is aware of how infectious the coronavirus is. Earlier this spring, he determined in opposition to attending the White Home Correspondents Dinner — a gathering of distinguished political and media figures that featured an look by the president — “due to my particular person evaluation of my private threat,” he mentioned then. On the time, Dr. Fauci was getting ready for different public engagements, together with graduation speeches at Princeton and the College of Michigan.
The correspondents’ dinner, which drew greater than 2,000 company to a packed resort ballroom, ended up spreading the virus amongst many journalists and different attendees.
