Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Fauci's Fall Warnings: Deaths Could Double, Vaccine Not Likely Soon
Politico: Fauci: There Could Be 300,000 To 400,000 Covid Deaths Unless Precautions Taken
Dr. Anthony Fauci offered a grim image of the coronavirus pandemic, telling students Tuesday that between 300,000 and 400,000 people could die from the disease in the United States. Speaking at a virtual event hosted by American University, the White House coronavirus specialist said: "If we don't do what we need to in the fall and winter, we could have 300,000-400,000 Covid-19 deaths," according to excerpts tweeted by the school. (Choi, 10/6)
The New York Times: In ‘Fauci,’ A Doctor Whose Work And Mission Have Been Shaped By Politics
Anthony Fauci has been at the helm of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases through the emergence of H.I.V., SARS, avian bird flu, swine flu, Ebola, Zika. He is “America’s doctor,” Michael Specter, a staff writer at The New Yorker, says in his new audiobook, “the essential first biography,” according to its publishers. “We don’t have an actual leader,” Specter said in April. “Fauci is the closest thing.” Biography might be a generous description of this book. “Fauci” faithfully follows Specter’s profile of the doctor published in The New Yorker this spring. The White House tightly controlled his access to Fauci; despite knowing each other for decades, the men were not able to meet in person. It is the story of the public life we receive, delivered in broad, reverent strokes, frank hagiography. (Sehgal, 10/6)
Also —
AP: US Surgeon General Cited For Being In Closed Hawaii Park
The U.S. surgeon general was cited for being in a closed Hawaii park in August while in the islands helping with surge testing amid a spike in coronavirus cases, according to a criminal complaint filed in court. A Honolulu police officer cited Jerome Adams after seeing him with two men “looking at the view taking pictures” at Kualoa Regional Park on Oahu’s northeastern coast, the citation said. The park in a rural area offers a picturesque view of Mokolii island, known as Chinaman’s Hat for its cone shape. (Kelleher, 10/7)
USA Today: Expert: CDC's Redfield Should Expose Trump COVID Failures, Leave Post
A former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and public health titan who led the eradication of smallpox asked the embattled, current CDC leader to expose the failed U.S. response to the new coronavirus, calling on him to orchestrate his own firing to protest White House interference. Dr. William Foege, a renowned epidemiologist who served under Democratic and Republican presidents, detailed in a private letter he sent last month to CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield his alarm over how the agency has fallen in stature while the pandemic raged across America. (Murphy and Stein, 10/6)
