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Leading United States infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci warned Congress that a premature lifting of lockdowns could lead to additional outbreaks of the deadly coronavirus, which has killed 80,000 Americans and brought the economy to its knees.
Key points:
- Dr Fauci says US efforts to battle COVID-19 should be "focused on the proven public health practices"
- He spoke remotely at a hearing after possibly coming into contact with White House staff who tested positive
- Republican Senator Rand Paul attacked Dr Fauci saying "I don't think you're the end all" and also questioned the accuracy of modelling of the pandemic.
Dr Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a US Senate committee that states should follow health experts' recommendations to wait for signs including a declining number of new infections before reopening.
He said that if the country reopens too soon during the coronavirus pandemic, it will result in "needless suffering and death."
US President Donald Trump has been encouraging states to end a weeks-long shuttering of major components of their economies. But senators heard a sobering assessment from Dr Fauci, when asked by Democrats about a premature opening of the economy.
The COVID-19 respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus has infected more than 1.3 million Americans.
Dr Fauci, 79, a member of Mr Trump's coronavirus task force, told the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that the nation's efforts to battle the deadly virus and the COVID-19 disease it triggers should be "focused on the proven public health practices of containment and mitigation."
'Don't think you're the end all'
Dr Fauci also clashed with Republican Senator Rand Paul during the hearing about when to reopen US schools as he warned against being "cavalier" about the danger to children.
"As much as I respect you, Dr Fauci, I don't think you're the end-all," Senator Rand Paul said during Dr Fauci's testimony.
Senator Paul questioned the accuracy of models predicting the pandemic's path and said he believed it would be a huge mistake not to reopen schools.
"We don't know everything about this virus," Dr Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, had said.
"And we'd really better be very careful, particularly when it comes to children.
Dr Fauci referred to a rare inflammatory syndrome believed to be linked to the novel coronavirus, which has killed at least three children in New York and afflicted dozens of others.
The syndrome shares symptoms with toxic shock and Kawasaki disease, including fever, skin rashes, swelling of the glands, and in severe cases, inflammation of arteries of the heart.
When Mr Paul suggested Dr Fauci was not the "end-all" who makes the decision, Fauci replied: "I have never made myself out to be the end-all, or the only voice in this."
"I'm a scientist, a physician and a public health official. I give advice according to the best scientific evidence — I don't give advice about economic things. I don't give advice about anything other than public health."
Dr Fauci testified remotely as he is in self-quarantine due to possibly having come come into contact with either of two members of the White House staff who were diagnosed with COVID-19.
He noted that he may go to the White House if needed.
Others testifying included US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield, Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn. Each testified remotely.
Last week, Dr Fauci was blocked by the White House from testifying to a Democratic-controlled House of Representatives panel.
The White House had said such testimony by the infectious disease expert would have been "counterproductive."
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