AP: Straight-talking Fauci explains outbreak to a worried nation
“If Dr. Anthony Fauci says it, you’d be smart to listen. As the coronavirus has upended daily life across the globe, Fauci has become the trusted voice in separating fact and fiction. The fear and confusion of outbreaks aren’t new to Fauci, who in more than 30 years has handled HIV, SARS, MERS, Ebola, and even the nation’s 2001 experience with bioterrorism — the anthrax attacks. Fauci’s political bosses — from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump — have let him do the explaining because he’s frank and understandable, translating complex medical information into everyday language while neither exaggerating nor downplaying…” (Alonso-Zaldivar/Neergaard, 3/14).

POLITICO: ‘Hunker down’: U.S. scrambles to stem virus spread through extreme measures
“The nation’s top infectious diseases expert urged Americans on Sunday to hunker down as the U.S. scrambles to avoid an explosion of coronavirus cases that could kill hundreds of thousands, or even a million, people here. ‘I think Americans should be prepared that they are going to have to hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing,’ Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told NBC’s Chuck Todd on ‘Meet the Press’…” (McCaskill et al., 3/15).

Science: Meet Anthony Fauci, the epidemic expert trying to shape the White House’s coronavirus response
“…Now, as the COVID-19 pandemic takes hold, Fauci has gained new prominence amid questions about whether the current White House has listened enough to scientists, and Fauci in particular, as it has struggled to respond. Reports that he had been stifled by the administration and had to clear all his comments with superiors helped spark widespread condemnation of the muzzling of scientists. Yet Fauci has become increasingly visible as the U.S. outbreak progresses, recently telling Congress that the country’s efforts to test people for coronavirus have been ‘failing.’ Fauci’s colleagues tell Science he is trying to walk a fine line, being honest to the public and policymakers but not so openly critical that he loses influence by being ignored or forced to resign…” (Travis, 3/14).

Additional coverage of Fauci’s role in the COVID-19 response and comments made by other officials is available from The Hill, POLITICO, and Wall Street Journal.