Anthony Fauci, the US top infectious diseases expert, turned 80 Thursday, but said he has no plans to ease his work load as the country enters a dangerous stretch of the coronavirus pandemic.
“There is no option to get tired. There is no option to sit down and say, ‘I’m sorry, I’ve had enough,'” Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, told The Washington Post. “I’m gonna dig deep and just suck it up.”
Fauci said he relies on muscle memory from working as a young doctor in a large New York hospital to keep his energy levels up. He said he's been going almost nonstop since January, when concerns about COVID-19 were spreading around the world.
President Trump has been one of Fauci's dissenters, at times contradicting the guidance from Fauci and other public health officials. But Fauci said they have remained on good terms throughout the pandemic.
“When [Trump] started to say things that were outright incorrect, I could not just stand there and shake my head and say it’s okay. I had to go to the microphone,” Fauci told the Post. “I didn’t intend to be anti-Trump. You know? I maintained my apolitical position. But I couldn’t stand there and not say anything and being complicit in things that were completely untrue.”
Anthony Stephen Fauci is an American physician and immunologist who has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984. Since January 2020, he has been one of the lead members of the Trump administration's White House Coronavirus Task Force addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, and in January 2021, he will further assume the role of Chief Medical Advisor to the President in the Biden administration. Fauci is one of the world's leading experts on infectious diseases, and during the early stages of the pandemic, The New Yorker and The New York Times described Fauci as one of the most trusted medical figures in the United States.
In Washington D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser formally proclaimed the day “Dr. Anthony S. Fauci Day” on Wednesday, calling him a “shining light in dark times for our nation.”
In honor of Dr. Fauci's 80th birthday tomorrow, I proclaim Thursday, December 24, 2020, “Dr. Anthony S. Fauci Day” in Washington, DC.
Fauci has served as an advisor to six presidents and as a key member of the Coronavirus Task Force.
President-elect Biden has already said he plans to keep Fauci on as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the next administration.
Fauci was vaccinated against the virus on Tuesday. He has told reporters and friends that he plans to spend a quiet night at home for his birthday.
“Happy Birthday, Sir” from Vividnstylish
https://thehill.com/homenews/news/531574-fauci-turns-80-there-is-no-option-to-get-tired
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_S._Fauci
https://wgntv.com/news/fauci-day-2020s-surprise-celebrity-honored-on-his-80th-birthday/