Anthony Fauci, Joe Biden’s top Covid-19 adviser, tests positive
- The US top scientist, 81, is experiencing mild symptoms, and will work from home while he recovers
- Fauci has been the face of America’s response to the pandemic, a role that brought him into conflict with former president Donald Trump
Top scientist Anthony Fauci, the face of America’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, tested positive on Wednesday for the virus on a rapid antigen test but is continuing to work from home while he recovers, the National Institutes of Health said.
“He is currently experiencing mild symptoms,” the NIH said, adding the 81-year-old, who is fully vaccinated and double boosted, had not been in recent close contact with President Joe Biden, whom he serves as chief medical adviser.
“Fauci will follow the Covid-19 guidelines of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and medical advice from his physician and return to the NIH when he tests negative,” it said.
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As the long-time director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, Fauci has led the United States’ response to every pandemic since 1984, winning wide praise for his leadership during the early fight against HIV-Aids.
When Covid-19 first spread globally from China, he became a trusted source of reliable information for a worried public, exuding a calm and professorial demeanour in his frequent media appearances.
But his honest takes on America’s failures to come to grips with the virus brought him into conflict with former president Donald Trump, who attacked the scientist frequently towards the end of his term, helping turn him into a hated figure by some on the right.