Fauci, Health Officials Paint Sobering Picture Of A Country Ill-Prepared To Reopen During Senate Hearing

The New York Times: Top Science And Health Officials Offer Sobering View Of Reopening Readiness
The scientists and public health officials who are leading the federal government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday painted a sobering picture of a country ill-prepared to reopen and contain the spread of the virus in the coming months. At a Senate hearing, the officials cautioned that a vaccine would almost certainly not come in time to protect students for the return to school in the fall, that a recently authorized treatment was not a game-changing advance and that states had to rebuild their depleted public health systems by hiring enough people before they could effectively track the spread of the virus and contain it. (Thomas, Grady, Mason and Kaplan, 5/12)

CNN: Key Moments From Dr. Anthony Fauci's Senate Hearing 
Fauci used much of his time before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions to urge states not to reopen until they know they have the capabilities to handle an inevitable uptick in cases once they relax stay-at-home orders. "My concern that if some areas -- cities, states or what have you -- jump over those various checkpoints and prematurely open up, without having the capability of being able to respond effectively and efficiently, my concern is we will start to see little spikes that might turn into outbreaks," Fauci said. (Watts, Howard, Rogers and Herb, 5/13)

The Associated Press: Fauci Warns: More Death, Econ Damage If US Reopens Too Fast
“There is a real risk that you will trigger an outbreak that you may not be able to control,” Dr. Anthony Fauci warned a Senate committee and the nation as more than two dozen states have begun to lift their lockdowns as a first step toward economic recovery. The advice from Fauci and other key government officials — delivered by dramatic, sometimes awkward teleconference — was at odds with a president who urges on protests of state-ordered restraints and insists that “day after day, we’re making tremendous strides.” (Neergaard and Alonso-Zaldivar, 5/13)

The Washington Post: Top U.S. Health Officials Warn The Coronavirus Could Come Roaring Back If States Lift Restrictions Too Soon
Fauci and two federal government colleagues cautioned that neither a vaccine nor surefire treatments would be available when schools are slated to reopen in the fall — a grim reminder that it is unlikely life will soon return to normal even if Americans try to resume their routines. Fauci also contradicted Trump’s claims of last week that the virus would die out of its own accord — without a vaccine — and said the true U.S. death toll is probably higher than the 80,000 tallied by Tuesday morning. The total rose above 81,000 later in the day, with the daily death count again rising above 1,500 nationwide. (Abutaleb, Gearan and Wagner, 5/12)

ABC News: When Might Schools Reopen? 5 Things To Know About A Senate Hearing On The Coronavirus 
Nearly every lawmaker wanted to know about schools. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the panel’s chairman, asked when his state college students might feel comfortable returning to classrooms, while the committee’s top Democrat, Patty Murray of Washington, wondered how kids could pile on to school buses and eat in cafeterias. Wouldn’t widespread testing help reopen the nation’s college campuses and schools? Sen. Alexander said scaling up to 50 million tests per month should give every principal and college chancellor "some reassurance." (Flaherty, Khan and Ebbs, 5/12)

CNN: Somber Warnings Temper Hopes About A Fall Return To School -- And Normalcy 
But lagging testing has made it more difficult for schools to open. Fractured state budgets that could lead to job cuts are also complicating the picture. And school superintendents have warned that without billions of dollars in extra funding, states and districts could struggle to put in place protocol like staggering classes, social distancing measures and extra bus runs to keep infections down. (Collinson, 5/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Fauci, Other Top Health Officials Emphasize Testing Before Easing Lockdowns
When asked Tuesday about the prospects of schools opening in the fall, Dr. Fauci urged caution. Expecting medicines and vaccines to make returning safer by the start of the school year “would be a bit of a bridge too far,” he said. Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) said such warnings from Dr. Fauci and others may be too strong, saying they should “be humble about things we don’t know.” Dr. Fauci said he was in fact “humble about making broad predictions,” but added that some children diagnosed with Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, also are afflicted with a “strange inflammatory syndrome.” (Burton and Armour, 5/13)

The Hill: Fauci To Paul: 'I've Never Made Myself Out' As The Only Voice On The Pandemic 
Anthony Fauci bluntly told Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday that he has never put himself up as the definitive authority on the coronavirus pandemic. "I have never made myself out to be the end all and only voice in this. I'm a scientist, a physician and a public health official. I give advice according to the best scientific evidence," Fauci, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during a Senate hearing about the coronavirus pandemic. (Weixel, 5/12)

NPR: Watch: Rand Paul Says Anthony Fauci's Not The 'End-All' In Senate Hearing
Fauci said Paul was "right in the numbers that children in general do much, much better than adults and the elderly and particularly those with underlying conditions. But I am very careful and hopefully humble in knowing that I don't know everything about this disease." He noted some children were suffering from "a very strange inflammatory syndrome" that is believed to be related to COVID-19. "I think we've got to be careful we are not cavalier in thinking that children are completely immune to the deleterious effects" of the coronavirus, Fauci said. (Naylor, 5/12)

Politico: Fauci Warns Reopening Country Too Fast Could Be 'Really Serious' For States
The White House has shifted its focus over the last few weeks to reopening the nation’s economy, contending that the worst of the pandemic is over and that states have the supplies and testing capacity to manage the disease over the next several months. Yet Fauci’s testimony came on the heels of a series of events that appeared to undermine the administration’s argument and underscore Fauci’s own concerns, including the infection of two aides who work in close proximity to Trump and other top administration officials. (Cancryn, 5/12)

Stat: 6 Takeaways From The Surreal Senate Hearing On Coronavirus 
The hearing itself made clear that even the Senate isn’t ready to resume business as usual. The four Trump administration witnesses all testified by video after recent exposure to a White House aide with coronavirus. Alexander, the chair of the Senate’s health committee, did the same after one of his own staffers tested positive. And though the hearing represented lawmakers’ first real chance to grill Trump administration officials on the federal government’s widely criticized coronavirus response, it only rarely devolved into the partisan anger that has characterized Congress in recent years. (Facher, 5/12)

Boston Globe: 7 Of The Biggest Moments From Tuesday’s Senate Coronavirus Hearing 
Like millions of other Americans who are working from home for the first time, those joining the hearing by videoconference experienced some bumps. At one point, a dog could be heard barking loudly as Senator Richard Burr tried to question the hearing witnesses. (Prignano, 5/12)

Politico: Fauci Fatigue Sets In Among Some Republicans
Anthony Fauci came to the Senate, virtually, to issue a dire warning against reopening the country too soon amid the deadly coronavirus pandemic. But his message fell flat with some of his intended audience. Republicans, led by President Donald Trump, are eager to revive the flailing economy. And resuming commerce at some level this spring and summer is central to the GOP’s message that it can turn around the economy before November. They’re also aiming to do so without adopting House Democrats’ plans for more multi-trillion-dollar stimulus bills. (Everett, Desiderio and Levine, 5/12)

The Hill: Cheney Defends Fauci: 'We Need His Expertise' To Defeat Coronavirus 
Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), the No. 3 Republican in the House, defended White House coronavirus task force member Anthony Fauci on Tuesday and praised him for the job that he's done during the pandemic. "Dr. Fauci is one of the finest public servants we have ever had. He is not a partisan," the House Republican Conference chair tweeted. "His only interest is saving lives. We need his expertise and his judgment to defeat this virus. All Americans should be thanking him. Every day." (Johnson, 5/12)

The Hill: Top Health Officials Cleared For Meetings At White House After Self-Isolating 
Three top Trump administration health officials who had been self-quarantining after possible exposure to the novel coronavirus have been cleared to participate in meetings at the White House complex, officials announced Tuesday. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn and top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said in a statement the administration concluded that the guidelines for critical infrastructure workers apply to them due to their work on the federal response to COVID-19. Those guidelines, issued by the CDC in April, say that workers in critical infrastructure sectors can continue to work following potential exposure so long as they remain asymptomatic and take other precautions, such as satisfying temperature screenings and wearing a mask. (Chalfant, 5/12)

PBS NewsHour: Health Officials Warn Lawmakers That Lifting Restrictions Could Trigger New Outbreaks 
New warnings from U.S. public health officials Tuesday emphasized that the national fight against COVID-19 is far from over -- and that lifting restrictions too quickly could cause unnecessary deaths. The sobering message was delivered as senior health figures, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, testified virtually before a Senate committee, and the U.S. death toll passed 82,000. (Nawaz, 5/12)