Fauci tests positive for coronavirus
Maybe it was only a matter of time.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s top medical adviser for the coronavirus pandemic, has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing “mild symptoms,” the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said Wednesday.
Dr. Fauci, the institute’s director, tested positive on a rapid antigen test, the agency said in a statement. It added that he is fully vaccinated against the virus and has been boosted twice.
Dr. Fauci, 81, has not recently been in close contact with Mr. Biden or other senior government officials and would “isolate and continue to work from his home,” the statement said. He will return to his office once he tests negative.
Along with other top federal health officials, Dr. Fauci was expected to testify Thursday before the Senate Health Committee on the state of the pandemic; an official said Dr. Fauci’s institute was working with committee staff to arrange for a remote appearance.
While much of the nation appears to be trying to move on, the coronavirus remains a threat. According to a New York Times database, more than 100,000 new cases are still being identified each day in the United States — a figure that has stayed roughly flat during the month of June. Many experts believe the number is an undercount because so many people are taking athome tests whose results are not recorded with public health authorities.
While cases are declining in the Northeast and Midwest, cases and hospitalizations are surging in the West and South. Reports of deaths, however, remain low. Fewer than 350 deaths are being reported each day, the Times database shows, down from more than 2,600 a day at the height of the omicron surge.
The positive test was the first for Dr. Fauci.