Dr. Fauci Weighs in on Trump Extending Social Distancing Guidelines

Dr. Anthony Fauci is weighing in with his take on President Donald Trump’s decision to extend the administration’s shutdown guidelines and practice of social distancing.

Fauci sat down for Monday’s interview with CNN’s John Berman where he was asked about Trump’s social distance extension. Fauci offered an explanation about the current coronavirus pattern in regards to peak and turnaround.

Based on the current pattern and timeline, Fauci revealed there was no way the virus would reach its peak and begin to decline within the initial two-week time window.

According to Fauci, the federal government would have been letting up at a time when they should be “pressing your foot on the pedal instead of on the brakes.”

Fauci went on to explain the ideology behind flattening the curve.

He noted that if “we prematurely pulled back, we would only form an acceleration or a rebound of something which would put you behind where you were before.”

Fauci went on to admit that his team “argued strongly” to convince the president to refrain from withdrawing the guidelines too soon.

“That’s the reason why we argued strongly with the president that he not withdraw those guidelines after 15 days, but that he extend them. And he did listen,” Fauci said.

See Fauci’s full interview below:

Berman moved on to the projection models Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx presented to Trump, which suggested approximately 100,000 to 200,000 people could die from the coronavirus — even with the current distancing guidelines in place.