Dr. Anthony Fauci had a terse response Sunday to South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem\u2019s attack on him at the Conservative Political Action Conference: Numbers \u201cdon\u2019t lie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noem got a standing ovation from the CPAC audience in Orlando, Florida, Saturday after she boasted that she had never ordered a \u201csingle business or church to close\u201d to help stem the spread of COVID-19 \u2014 and another when she said Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is \u201cwrong a lot\u201d about the pandemic.<\/p>\n
Mentioned as a potential contender for the GOP\u2019s presidential nomination in 2024, Noem gloated about what she considers her state\u2019s handling the health crisis \u2014 even though South Dakota\u2019s COVID-19 mortality rate late last year was the third-highest in the world.\u00a0As its residents took cues from Noem, the state\u2019s rate of\u00a0face-mask use\u00a0has been among the lowest in the U.S.<\/p>\n
Fauci, appearing on CBS\u2019 \u201cFace the Nation,\u201d told host Margaret Brennan that he was sure that at CPAC, \u201cyou can get a standing ovation by saying I\u2019m wrong.\u201d But, he added, numbers \u201cdon\u2019t lie.\u201d<\/p>\n
He called Noem\u2019s refusal to accept health protection measures amid a mounting COVID-19 death toll \u201cunfortunate\u201d and \u201cnot really helpful.\u201d He added,\u00a0\u201cWe see what happens when you pull back [restrictions] prematurely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noem made a separate appearance on \u201cFace The Nation\u201d and Brennan grilled her about South Dakota having had the nation\u2019s\u00a0highest COVID-19 mortality rate per capita at times last year. Brennan asked how someone who claims to care about the sanctity of life can \u201cjustify making decisions that put the health of your constituents at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noem deflected the questions, suggesting to ask it of the governors of other states that have been hit hard by the pandemic, such as Democrats Andrew Cuomo of New York and Gavin Newsom of California.<\/p>\n
Fauci\u2019s slap-down of Noem was part of his overview of the status of the pandemic and the rollout of vaccines in the nation. The recent \u201csharp\u201d downturn in COVID-19 cases was \u201cvery encouraging,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut over the last several days, it\u2019s kind of stopped at around 70,000 and lingered there … That is concerning because the thing we don\u2019t want is to have it plateau at 70,000 per day … That\u2019s exactly the thing that happened [before] previous surges,\u201d Fauci said.<\/p>\n
People tend to drop their guard in adhering to the guidelines for combating the spread of the disease when news about it improves, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last year, as cases \u201cstarted to come down, people withdrew some of the intensity of the public health measures, and it kind of stabilized at a very high level. That\u2019s very dangerous, particularly given the fact that we have these variants around,\u201d said Fauci.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cWe don\u2019t want to continue to prevent people from doing what they want to do. But let\u2019s get down to a good level. Right now … is not the time to declare victory because we\u2019re not victorious yet. We will be, I can assure you, but we\u2019re not there yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also promised that the \u201clogistics\u201d of getting vaccines into \u201cpeople\u2019s arms is really, truly going to get better and better … particularly now where we\u2019re putting up over 400 community vaccine centers\u201d and expanding vaccine availability at pharmacies and in mobile units.<\/p>\n