Dr. Anthony Fauci and Fox Newsâ Laura Ingraham do not appear to agree on the differences between the coronavirus, HIV (human immunodeficiency viruses) and SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome).
Ingraham opened the exchange claiming âlife did go onâ despite not having a vaccine for SARS or HIV and asked Fauci why the United States is adamant about having one for the coronavirus before the nation returns to normal.
Fauci first explained how HIV/AIDS and SARS are different.
âWe donât have a vaccine for HIV/AIDS but we have spectacularly effective treatment,â Fauci said. âPeople who invariably would have died years ago right now are leading essentially normal lives. SARS is a different story. SARS disappeared.â
Fauci confirmed a vaccine was created for SARS, it went through the different phases and was proven to be safe, but then the virus disappeared.
He was not on board with Ingrahamâs idea the coronavirus is similar to those viruses.
âI think itâs a little bit misleading maybe to compare what weâre going through now with HIV or SARS, theyâre really different,â Fauci said.
Watch Fauciâs comments below:
Ingraham went on to suggest the coronavirus could disappear just as SARS did.
âAnything could, Laura, but I have to tell you, the degree of efficiency of transmissibility of this is really unprecedented in anything that Iâve seen,â Fauci said. âItâs an extraordinarily efficient virus in transmitting from one person to another. Those kind of viruses donât just disappear.â
The coronavirus continues to spread across the United States. As of Friday morning, there are more than 671,000 confirmed cases and at least 33,000 deaths.
President Donald Trump released new guidelines on Thursday evening for states to follow to reopen their economies, as IJR previously reported.
There is no confirmed timeline listed in the new guidelines of when restrictions on states are lifted but Trump did list criteria for states to begin rolling back social distancing restrictions.
