US President Donald Trump has said a warning by controversial scientist Dr Fauci about lifting pandemic restrictions too soon was unacceptable.
He accused Fauci of wanting “to play all sides of the equation” in his testimony to lawmakers on Tuesday.
The president said he was especially dissatisfied with Dr Fauci’s caution around reopening schools too quickly.
Covid-19 has infected nearly 1.4 million people in the US and killed 84,000, while ravaging the economy.
Speaking on Wednesday at the White House, Mr Trump took issue with Dr Fauci’s comments to a Senate hearing a day earlier about the risks to children of reopening and his assessment that a vaccine was unlikely before classes could begin this autumn.
Speaking to reporters President Trump said:
“Look, he wants to play all sides of the equation.
I was surprised by his answer actually, because, you know, it’s just to me – it’s not an acceptable answer, especially when it comes to schools.
Because this is a disease that attacks age, and it attacks health.
But with the young children, I mean, and students, it’s really – just take a look at the statistics. It’s pretty amazing.”
The President is keen to get Americans back to work and has praised governors who are moving to do so while criticising others for not acting aggressively enough.
The director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases emphasised the importance of not being “cavalier in thinking that children are completely immune to the deleterious effects” of the disease.
Fauci said: “We just have to see on a step-by-step basis as we get into the period of time with the fall, about reopening the schools, exactly where we will be in the dynamics of the outbreak.”
The infectious disease chief also said the real US death toll is probably higher than the official figure.
The debate continues around statistics and whether declarations of people dying with Covid19 is because of Covid19 or underlying health problems.
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