Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Not the ultimate authority

Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the prolific voices on President Trump's COVID-19 task force, testified before the Senate Health Committee on Tuesday.

One of the key conversations took place with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).





This is basically in response to Fauci's assertion that re-opening the U.S. economy and lifting stay-at-home orders could very well lead to further carnage. As such, he is always going to err on the side on prolonged shelter-in-place. So when asked about the unintended consequences of a longer shutdown, some of which could also result in fatalities, Fauci concedes such analysis is not in his wheelhouse.




And therein lies the salient issue. With the facts laid out by Dr. Fauci, it is up to local governments to determine what is the best methodology for balancing the public health concerns with fending off economic ruin. And since it's elected officials who are accountable for their decisions, they're the ones who will ultimately pay a price if it is deemed they re-opened too early. But, again, they have access to data which Fauci obviously does not. Choose wisely.

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