WASHINGTON — Two of the federal authorities’s high well being officers painted a grim image of the months forward on Tuesday, warning a Senate pane
WASHINGTON — Two of the federal authorities’s high well being officers painted a grim image of the months forward on Tuesday, warning a Senate panel that the US has not contained the coronavirus pandemic a day after President Trump declared that “we have now met the second and we have now prevailed.”
The officers warned of dire penalties if the nation reopens its economic system too quickly, noting that the US nonetheless lacks crucial testing capability and the power to hint the contacts of these contaminated.
“If we don’t reply in an ample manner when the autumn comes, on condition that it’s surely that there might be infections that might be locally, then we run the chance of getting a resurgence,” mentioned Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, an infectious illness skilled and the director of the Nationwide Institute for Allergy and Infectious Illnesses.
He added that “there’s a actual danger that you’ll set off an outbreak that you could be not be capable to management” if the economic system opens too shortly, “resulting in some struggling and dying that might be prevented.”
Dr. Fauci’s comment, throughout a high-profile — and partly digital — listening to earlier than the Senate Committee on Well being, Schooling, Labor and Pensions, together with feedback from Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the director of the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention, made clear that the nation has not but prevailed.
The 2 males, who’ve at occasions appeared at Mr. Trump’s facet, drew a really completely different image of the state of the pandemic than the president’s, who has cheered for a swift reopening, championed protesters demanding an finish to the quarantine and predicted the start of a “transition to greatness.”
Dr. Fauci advised senators {that a} vaccine wouldn’t be prepared in time for the brand new college 12 months, that outbreaks in different elements of the world would certainly attain the US and that humility within the face of an unpredictable killer meant erring on the facet of warning, even with youngsters who’ve fared nicely however have not too long ago proven new vulnerabilities.
“We aren’t out of the woods but,” Dr. Redfield mentioned, “however we’re extra ready.”
The 2 have been amongst 4 authorities docs — the others have been Dr. Stephen Hahn, the commissioner of meals and medicines, and Adm. Brett P. Giroir, an assistant secretary for well being — who testified remotely throughout the listening to. Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, who like Drs. Fauci, Redfield and Hahn is in quarantine after being uncovered to the coronavirus, presided from his residence in Maryville, Tenn.
Despite the gloomy predictions for the months ahead, over the long term, the experts drew a somewhat more upbeat picture. Asked by Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, if the scientists would ultimately develop a vaccine, Dr. Fauci said: “It’s definitely not a long shot, Senator Romney. I would think that it’s more likely than not that we will.”
And Admiral Giroir assured Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, that his office was determined to see to it that a vaccine “reaches all segments of society regardless of their ability to pay.”
For Dr. Redfield, who has largely been sidelined by Mr. Trump — at least in the administration’s public response — the hearing was a rare opportunity to speak directly to Americans, though he often seemed at pains not to showcase any disagreements with the president. Dr. Fauci, one of the most visible federal health officials and voices in the pandemic, has been out of public view for the past two weeks, since Mr. Trump abandoned his daily coronavirus task force briefings. Often the subject of speculation that the president will fire him, Dr. Fauci reassured senators that their relationship was intact.
“There is certainly not a confrontational relationship between me and the president,” he said, adding that when he gives Mr. Trump advice, “he hears that, he respects it, he gets opinions from a variety of other people.”
The hearing scene was extraordinary. The wood-paneled hearing room, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, was set up with tables along all four walls, so that senators — some of whom were wearing masks that they removed while speaking — could sit at a reasonable distance apart. Those who participated virtually gave viewers a peek into their private lives. Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the panel, looked as though she was talking from her kitchen. Mr. Alexander’s dog, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel named Rufus, slept in the background as he spoke.
And the mood was at times tense. Mr. Alexander put Democrats on notice not to engage in “finger pointing” and insisted that “even the experts underestimated Covid-19,” referring to the disease caused by the coronavirus. Ms. Murray followed that by calling Mr. Trump’s response “a disaster,” adding: “The president isn’t telling the truth. We must, and our witnesses must.”
Across the Capitol, House Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a $3 trillion economic relief measure to respond to the pandemic, including $1 trillion in aid to state, local and tribal governments, another round of $1,200 direct payments to American families, and more money for jobless aid and food assistance.
The measure would also provide a $25 billion bailout for the Postal Service, which has said it is set to run out of cash by September without a lifeline from Congress. Ms. Murray used her time to make a pitch for the package, saying Republicans — who have already joined with Democrats in approving nearly $3 trillion in government aid — had not done enough.
“What good is a bridge that only gets you to the middle of the river?” she asked.
There were flash points between the witnesses and the senators, as well. In one sharp exchange, Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, pressed his belief that children needed to return to school and told Dr. Fauci that his was not the only voice senators would listen to.
“I think we ought to have a little bit of humility in our belief that we know what’s best for the economy,” Mr. Paul said. “And as much as I respect you, Dr. Fauci, I don’t think you’re the end-all. I don’t think you’re the one person who gets to make a decision.”
Dr. Fauci replied, “We should be humble about what we don’t know,” continuing, “and we really better be very careful, particularly when it comes to children,” because children may not be “immune to the deleterious effects” of Covid-19.
The White House has put out guidelines for states to follow, called “Opening Up America Again,” in planning how to reopen businesses and get people back to work and school. The plan recommends, among other things, that before reopening, states should have a “downward trajectory of positive tests” or a “downward trajectory of documented cases” of the coronavirus over two weeks, while conducting robust contact tracing and “sentinel surveillance” testing of asymptomatic people in vulnerable populations, like nursing homes.
But the guidelines are not mandatory, and many states are reopening without adhering to them, seeking to ease the pain as millions of working people and small-business owners are facing economic ruin while sheltering at home.
Senator Christopher S. Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, complained on Tuesday that Dr. Fauci and the other witnesses were “trying to have it both ways” by saying that states should not reopen too early while giving governors guidance that was “criminally vague.” The C.D.C. has been working on a more specific plan that has been held up by the White House. Mr. Murphy demanded to know when it would be released — especially given that states are reopening.
“Is it this week? Is it next week?” the senator asked. Dr. Redfield replied that the guidance would be on the C.D.C.’s website “soon,” after it is reviewed by Mr. Trump’s coronavirus task force.
“Soon isn’t terribly helpful,” Mr. Murphy shot back.