Fauci says he hasn’t briefed Trump in at least two months
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, said Friday he has not briefed President Donald Trump in at least two months and not seen him in person at the White House since June 2, despite a coronavirus resurgence that has strained hospitals and led several states to pause reopenings.
Fauci told the Financial Times he was “sure” his messages were sent to the president even though the two have not been in close contact in the past several weeks. Fauci also said Trump was incorrect in claiming 99% of coronavirus cases were “harmless” and may have conflated some statistics.
The comments from the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases came as Trump has been critical of Fauci and spoken openly about issues on which they disagree.
In a Thursday interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Trump said Fauci had “made a lot of mistakes” but called him a “nice man.” Trump also said “most cases” of coronavirus would “automatically cure. They automatically get better.”
Elsewhere, trial data on the experimental drug remdesivir confirms it can shorten the course of COVID-19 infections and suggests it also can save lives.
Gilead Sciences Inc., a California pharmaceutical company that makes the drug, revealed data Friday about nearly 400 patients in its late-stage clinical trial.
According to the results, 74% of patients treated with remdesivir had recovered by their 14th day of hospitalization, compared to 59% of those who did not get the drug. Nearly 8% of the patients on remdesivir had died by day 14, versus more than 12% of patients who did not receive it.
The study also found patients who took the drug hydroxychloroquine along with remdesivir fared worse than those on remdesivir alone. The company recommended against using the drugs in combination.
Remdesivir, an antiviral initially developed to treat Ebola, has not yet been approved for widespread use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but it has been given emergency use authorization to treat COVID-19 patients.