Trump administration's 'lack of truthfulness' in handling COVID 'very likely' cost lives

Dr Anthony Fauci, the top infectious diseases expert in the United States, said that the lack of truthfulness from the previous Donald Trump’s administration pertaining to the coronavirus pandemic “very likely” cost American lives. Fauci, who is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, had endured a tough relationship with Trump and he was also increasingly sidelined from public briefings. However, he returned to the White House after newly minted President Joe Biden released a national COVID-19 strategy and signed ten executive orders to combat the unprecedented pandemic. 

Fauci said, “Particularly when you're in the situation of almost being in a crisis with the number of cases and hospitalizations and deaths that we have -- when you start talking about things that make no sense medically and no sense scientifically, that clearly is not helpful”. 

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When asked if the lack of candour over the last year and lack of facts lead to over 400,000 people dead from the virus, the director of NIAID said, “You know, it very likely did”. He added that its “not helpful” when one starts to go down the paths that are not based conscience at all. Further, he even said that he doesn’t wish to rehash the ways in which the Trump administration steered away from science. 

Fauci spoke of a “liberating feeling” of being able to speak scientific truth about the coronavirus without the fear of “repercussions” from Trump. He said that one of the things he going to do is to be completely transparent, open and honest. Fauci added that if things go wrong, instead of pointing fingers, he would correct them and make everything based on science and evidence. 

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Biden’s goal of vaccination is ‘quite reasonable’ 

Meanwhile, during a White House press briefing, Fauci also noted that the number of new coronavirus infections is still at a “very high rate”. However, added that the goal set by Biden, of getting 100 million people vaccinated in 100 days, is quite a reasonable goal. Biden is tasked with primarily resolving the problem of quick and accurate vaccination. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 31.1 million doses have been delivered so far, but less than 40 per cent (12.2 million) has been administered.

(With inputs from ANI) 

(Image: AP)

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