Fauci said during a Tuesday interview that while the Coronavirus is still a risk, it is not a pandemic-level risk. The White House advisor’s comments came during a visible surge of COVID-19 among politicians.
“We are certainly right now, in this country, out of the pandemic phase,” Fauci told PBS NewsHour’s, Judy Woodruff. “Namely, we don’t have 900,000 new infections a day and tens and tens and tens of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths. We are at a low level right now.”
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Fauci emphasized that medical professionals could not “eradicate” COVID-19 but said he expects to vaccinate people intermittently to keep case counts down.
That vaccination might be “every year, that might be longer, in order to keep that level low,” Fauci said. “But right now, we are not in the pandemic phase in this country. Pandemic means a widespread, throughout the world, infection that spreads rapidly among people.”
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Fauci’s remarks come as a new strain of COVID-19, known as BA.2 Omicron, has risen in the last month and is responsible for the majority of new COVID-19 infections. While COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations have been on the rise since March 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of COVID-19-related deaths has declined significantly.
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Several members of Washington have caught the Coronavirus in April. An estimated 72 cases of COVID-19 have been aligned with the Gridiron Dinner, a social event in which hundreds of journalists and lawmakers gathered on April 2.
Vice President Kamala Harris and Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden both reported testing positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended the Administration’s handling of the virus around President Joe Biden, who is 79 and more at risk of severe symptoms or complications.
“You’re on a regular testing cadence around here,” she told reporters Tuesday. “We also take the step to socially distance in meetings as frequently as we can, and also a number of us have chosen to wear masks in meetings as well just as an additional step and protocol.” Select White House staffers and reporters have chosen to continue wearing masks amid the Omicron and BA.2 variant surge despite Washington, D.C., no longer requiring face coverings inside.
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However, Harris’s positive test result Tuesday brought a fresh round of questions for the White House about whether the Administration is worried about Biden contracting the virus. According to the White House, Biden was not in close contact with Harris and tested negative on Monday.
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