Fauci, Redfield testify on Trump's coronavirus response

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, does not regret telling Americans they should have been wearing masks sooner.

Speaking Tuesday to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Fauci explained how the situation was different a few months ago.

“I don't regret that because let me explain to you what happened. At that time, there was a paucity of equipment that our health care providers needed — who put themselves daily in harm's way of taking care of people who are ill. We did not want to divert masks and PPE away from them, to be used by the people,” he said.

“Now that we have enough, we recommend … ” Fauci began answering before he was cut off for the next question.

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Dr. Anthony Fauci told lawmakers that in his entire career, he’s never seen a single virus that has such wide array of symptoms, like coronavirus does – and that confuses people. 

“I've been dealing with viral outbreaks for the last 40 years. I've never seen a single virus  — that is one pathogen  — have a range from 20% to 40% of the people have no symptoms," the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said during his testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

This is just one of the “perplexing things about Covid-19," he noted.

Because of this, the health expert said the situation is “very confusing to people because some people think, ‘It’s trivial. It doesn't bother me. Who cares?’"

Fauci said that confusion has triggered Americans to have a “lack of appreciation” for responsibility.

Addressing the younger generation, Fauci said, “If you get infected and spread the infection  — even though you do not get sick — you are part of the process of the dynamics of an outbreak. And what you might be propagating, inadvertently  — perhaps innocently  — is infecting someone who then infects someone, who then is someone who's vulnerable.”

Top US health experts are testifying at an ongoing hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Health; Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dr. Brett Giroir, with the US Department of Health and Human Services; and Dr. Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, have been answering members' questions for nearly two hours.

Here's what we've learned so far during the hearing:

There was an “absolute shortage” of personal protective equipment at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Admiral Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services, told lawmakers Tuesday.

Addressing the House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on "Oversight of the Trump Administration's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic,” Giroir said at the beginning of 2020, “everyone in the world was looking for the same supplies.”

Looking ahead to the fall, HHS estimates “if there were a Covid outbreak to this degree – we would need about 140 million N95’s per month.”

But Giroir said that’s not enough. “We need to be better prepared,” he said.

“We talked to governor's in every state — many of the states are also doing their own supplies for 60 to 90 days — so I'm confident moving on from here on, as we ramp domestic manufacturing, that we're going to be in a much better position than we were three months ago,” he said.

From March 1 to June 19, the US government has been a part of distribution of: 160 million N95 masks, 638 million surgical masks, 281 million gowns and more than 16 billion pairs of gloves, Giroir said.

Rep. Anna Eshoo, a Democrat from California, said she was "deeply disappointed" by the leadership of Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Eshoo noted that the American people "are divided" on the virus. While Dr. Anthony Fauci, she said, has spoken "time and time again," she urged Redfield to "speak out."

"And I urged you, as head of the CDC, to speak directly to the American people. I know the agencies are talking to each other. I consider that a whisper, because the American people are not hearing you speak out," Eshoo said

She continued: "So, I continue to urge you to speak out. You're a doctor. Put your white jacket on and speak weekly to the American people. They want to know what's coming. What is ahead. My constituents ask me on a consistent basis, what's next? What is our government doing? That's a haunting question," Eshoo said.

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Dr. Anthony Fauci was asked if he considers institutionalized racism to be a contributing factor to coronavirus deaths among Black Americans.

Rep. Bobby Rush, a Democrat from Illinois, asked the question in today's hearing. Here's how Fauci responded:

Last month, a study found evidence more Black Americans may be dying from coronavirus in the United States than other ethnic groups.

One of the reasons the US is seeing a surge in infections is an increase in community spread, Dr. Anthony Fauci told lawmakers, "and that's something that I'm really quite concerned about," he said.

Fauci said the next couple of weeks “are going to be critical in our ability to address those surges that we're seeing in Florida, in Texas, in Arizona, and in other states. They're not the only ones that are having a difficulty.”

Asked to give his "unvarnished view" on where the US is in its fight against Covid-19, Dr. Anthony Fauci said "it really is a mixed bag," adding that some states are doing well while others are now a problem.

“You have a very large country, very heterogeneous, major differences — for example, between the New York metropolitan area and Casper, Wyoming,” but it’s clear, Fauci said, “we've been hit badly.”

Fauci described the rise in cases in some parts of the country as "a disturbing surge of infections."

Fauci gave his advice on addressing these increase in cases.

"The way you address that — and I've said this over and over again — is you have to have the manpower, the system, the testing to identify, isolate and contact trace in an effective way so that when you see those increases, you can understand where they are coming from, and you can do something about them," Fauci said.

Fauci added, "right now the next couple of weeks are going to be critical in our ability to address those surgings that we're seeing in Florida, in Texas and in Arizona."

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Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Robert Redfield, both members of the White House coronavirus task force, said they are committed to increasing — not slowing down — testing for coronavirus.

The comments come as President Trump has come under fire for saying that he told staff to slow down testing for the disease to hide the discovery of more cases. While members of his own administration have said the comments were in jest, Trump insisted today he was not kidding.

Asked about the state of testing, Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he has not been told to slow down on testing.

"In fact, we will be doing more testing," he said. "We're going to be doing more testing, not less."

Redfield, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention same question reiterated Fauci's remarks.

"All of us have been and continued to be committed to increasing readily, timely access to testing," he said.