Fauci expected to warn Senate of ‘needless suffering and death’ if US reopens too soon

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious disease expert who led the White House coronavirus effort, is expected to tell the Senate that Americans face “needless suffering and death” if the country reopens too soon, a report said Monday.

Fauci told The New York Times that he intends to issue the warning about the pandemic on Tuesday during testimony delivered remotely before the Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

“The major message that I wish to convey to the Senate HLP committee tomorrow is the danger of trying to open the country prematurely,” Fauci told the paper.

“If we skip over the checkpoints in the guidelines to: ‘Open America Again,’ then we risk the danger of multiple outbreaks throughout the country. This will not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal.”

The White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have issued guidelines that urge states to abide be a series of measures, such as a downward trajectory in Covid-19 cases, before reopening.

Fauci’s warning comes as protests against lockdown measures have taken place across the country — including a demonstration in Florida on Monday that saw gym rats doing push-ups in front of a shuttered gym.