Covid-19: Birx Lashes Trumps Pandemic Response and Says Deaths Could Have Been Decreased Substantially – The New York Times

Heres what you need to know:Former President Donald J. Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence with Adm. Brett P. Giroir and Dr. Deborah Birx during a news conference at the White House in April 2020.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

In interviews broadcast on CNN Sunday night, former President Donald J. Trumps pandemic officials confirmed in stark and no uncertain terms what was already an open secret in Washington: The administrations pandemic response was riddled with dysfunction, and the discord, untruths and infighting most likely cost many lives.

Dr. Deborah L. Birx, Mr. Trumps coronavirus response coordinator, suggested that hundreds of thousands of Americans may have died needlessly, and Adm. Brett P. Giroir, the testing czar, said the administration had lied to the public about the availability of testing.

The comments were among a string of bombshells that emerged during a CNN special report that featured the doctors who led the governments coronavirus response in 2020.

Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accused Mr. Trumps health secretary, Alex M. Azar III, and the secretarys leadership team of pressuring him to revise scientific reports. Now he may deny that, but its true, Dr. Redfield said in an interview with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNNs chief medical correspondent. Mr. Azar, in a statement, denied it.

Dr. Stephen K. Hahn, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said his relationship with Mr. Azar had grown strained after the health secretary revoked the agencys power to regulate coronavirus tests. That was a line in the sand for me, Dr. Hahn said. When Dr. Gupta asked him if Mr. Azar had screamed at him, Dr. Hahn replied: You should ask him that question.

But it was Dr. Birx, who has been pilloried for praising Mr. Trump as being so attentive to the scientific literature and for not publicly correcting the president as he made outlandish claims about unproven therapies, whose disclosures may have been the most compelling.

As of Sunday, more than 548,000 Americans have died from infection with the coronavirus. I look at it this way, she said. The first time, we have an excuse. There were about 100,000 deaths that came from that original surge.

All of the rest of them, she said, referring to almost 450,000 deaths, in my mind, could have been mitigated or decreased substantially had the administration acted more aggressively.

In what was one of her first televised interviews since leaving the White House in January, she also described a very uncomfortable, very direct and very difficult phone call with Mr. Trump after she spoke out about the dangers of the virus last summer. Everybody in the White House was upset with that interview, she said.

After that, she decided to travel the country to talk to state and local leaders about masks and social distancing and other public health measures that the president didnt want her to explain to the American public from the White House podium.

Dr. Gupta asked if she was being censored. Clearly someone was blocking me from doing it, she said. My understanding was I could not be national because the president might see it.

Several of the officials in the interview, including Dr. Anthony S. Fauci who unlike the others is a career scientist and is now advising President Biden blamed China, where the virus was first detected, for not being open enough with the United States. And several, including Dr. Redfield and Admiral Giroir, said early stumbles with testing and the attitude within the White House that testing made the president look bad by driving up the number of case reports were a serious problem in the administrations response.

And the problems with testing went beyond Mr. Trumps obsession with optics. Admiral Giroir said that the administration simply did not have as many tests as top officials claimed at the time.

When we said there were millions of tests there werent, right? he said. There were components of the test available but not the full deal.

In a lengthy statement Monday evening, Mr. Trump shot back at Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx, blasting them as two self-promoters trying to reinvent history to cover for their bad instincts and faulty recommendations, while praising his administrations efforts to develop a vaccine.

The former president, who routinely questioned the need for lockdowns and other precautions during his administration, said of Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx, If it were up to them, wed currently be locked in our basements as our country suffered through a financial depression.

Scientists view Florida the state furthest along in lifting restrictions, reopening society and welcoming tourists as a bellwether for the nation.

If recent trends there are any indication, the rest of the country may be in trouble.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Florida has been steadily rising, though hospitalizations and deaths are still down. Over the past week, the state has averaged nearly 5,000 cases per day, an increase of 8 percent from its average two weeks earlier.

B.1.1.7, the more contagious variant first identified in Britain, is also rising exponentially in Florida, where it accounts for a greater proportion of total cases than in any other state, according to numbers collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Wherever we have exponential growth, we have the expectation of a surge in cases, and a surge in cases will lead to hospitalizations and deaths, said Bill Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Florida has had one of the countrys most confusing and inefficient vaccination campaigns, and has fully vaccinated about 15 percent of its population well below what top states, like New Mexico and South Dakota, have managed. Still, immunization of older people and other high-risk individuals may blunt the number of Floridas deaths somewhat. The state has announced it will start offering the vaccine to anyone over age 18 on April 5.

At least some of the cases in Florida are the result of the states open invitation to tourists. Hordes of students on spring break have descended on the state since mid-February. Rowdy crowds on Miami Beach this month forced officials to impose an 8 p.m. curfew, although many people still flouted the rules.

Miami-Dade County, which includes Miami Beach, has experienced one of the nations worst outbreaks, and continues to record high numbers. The county averaged more than 1,100 cases per day over the past week.

In Orange County, cases are on the rise among young people. People 45 and younger account for one in three hospitalizations for Covid, and the average age for new infections has dropped to 30.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has rejected stringent restrictions from the very start of the pandemic. Florida has never had a mask mandate, and in September Mr. DeSantis banned local governments from enforcing mandates of their own. Among his scientific advisers now are architects of the Great Barrington Declaration, which called for political leaders to allow the coronavirus to spread naturally among young people, while the elderly and those with underlying conditions sheltered in place.

After weeks of decline followed by a steady plateau, coronavirus cases are rising again in the United States. Deaths are still decreasing, but the country averaged 61,545 cases last week, 11 percent more than the average two weeks earlier.

Scientists predicted weeks ago that the number of infections would curve upward again in late March, at least in part because of the rise of variants of the coronavirus across the country. The variant that walloped Britain, called B.1.1.7, has led to a new wave of cases across most of Europe. Some scientists warned that it may lead to a new wave in the United States.

The rise in infections is also a result of state leaders pulling back on mitigation measures, and large social interactions, like spring break gatherings in Florida, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the Biden administrations chief science adviser, said on the CBS program Face the Nation on Sunday.

The variants are playing a part, but its not completely the variants, Dr. Fauci said. Most states have lifted restrictions, including on indoor dining, in response to the drop in numbers, actions that Dr. Fauci called premature.

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As of Thursday, there were 8,337 known cases of the B.1.1.7 variant in the country, but the actual number is probably much higher because labs in the country analyze only a very small proportion of the diagnosed cases. Still, the trend is clear: The variant which is more transmissible and possibly more lethal has been rising exponentially in the United States, its growth masked by the overall drop in infections.

It is remarkable how much this recalls the situation last year where we had introductions of virus to different places that scientists warned would be a problem, Bill Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. School of Public Health, said in an interview on Sunday. People waited for them to be a problem before they took action and then too late, they took action.

Dr. Hanage said he was particularly worried about B.1.1.7 because it is at least 50 percent more transmissible than the original virus. The brisk pace of vaccinations will stem the tide somewhat, but the rising immunity in the population may be more than offset by the variants contagiousness, he added. B.1.1.7 is really scary, he said.

The vaccines in use in the United States made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are expected to prevent severe disease and death from any of the variants, although they are slightly less effective against a variant that was identified in South Africa. That variant, known as B.1.351, has not yet spread widely in the United States.

Because many of the highest-risk people have been inoculated, hospitalizations and deaths may not show a steep rise along with infections. But a surge in cases will still lead to some severe cases and deaths, Dr. Hanage said.

How large it will be well need to wait and see, he said. But ideally we would not be waiting to see, ideally wed be taking action.

This time last year, Esti Shushans Passover was ruined. The sudden enforcement of the coronavirus lockdown in Israel forced Ms. Shushan to mark the Jewish festival usually a joyous time of large family gatherings with just her four children and husband.

But this weekend, Ms. Shushan, an entrepreneur and womens rights activist, was able to return to something approaching normality. Israels vaccine program has caused infection rates to plummet, leading to a loosening of restrictions. Ms. Shushan gathered on Saturday night with 40 relatives.

It was a feeling of release, she said. It made us feel free. It allowed us to breathe to experience the springtime around us.

Across Israel, life is opening up. More than half of the Israeli population has received both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the highest rate in the world.

On Saturday evening, that allowed large groups to celebrate Passover, which marks the escape of Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Then on Sunday morning, Christian worshipers were permitted to gather in large numbers to mark Palm Sunday including at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which according to tradition was built on the site in Jerusalem where Jesus Christ was both crucified and buried.

For many Israelis, the emergence from anti-virus restrictions gave added symbolism to a ritual, known in Judaism as Seder, that centers on freedom.

For Jews, Seder is celebrating liberation, said Harry D. Wall, an activist and documentary filmmaker who celebrated the evening in a group of 11 in Jerusalem 10 more than last year when he spent the holiday alone.

And that made the return to in-person gathering, after a year of on-off lockdowns, restrictions, isolation from friends and family to be even more meaningful this year, Mr. Wall added. It felt like a real deliverance.

The atmosphere at the Palm Sunday service at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where worshipers commemorated Christs entry into Jerusalem, a week before his crucifixion was still subdued compared with the prepandemic era. Most places of worship can still admit only up to 50 percent of their capacity. But it was a happy improvement from last year, said Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the most senior Catholic official in the city.

Last year was a terrible Easter, without people, closed doors, he said in an interview with Reuters after the service. This year is much better the doors are open. We dont have a lot of people, but we feel more hopeful that things will become better.

A few miles to the south in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, Christian Palestinians were also able to gather at the Church of the Nativity, which stands on a site where tradition holds that Christ was born. But the mood in Bethlehem is generally more somber: As in much of the West Bank, the city now shuts down at 7 p.m. to help temper the spread of the virus.

The infection rate is surging in the parts of the occupied territories administered by the Palestinian Authority. The authority has been able to procure only a small fraction of the vaccines it needs to protect the Palestinian population. And Israel has vaccinated predominantly those Palestinians who work in Israel itself or in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, stirring a debate about its responsibility as an occupying power.

Israel argues that Palestinian officials assumed responsibility for vaccinations after the signing of the Oslo accords in the 1990s. But Palestinian advocates argue it is Israels duty to help the Palestinians, citing the Fourth Geneva Convention, an international law that governs occupations.

New York State has introduced a digital app that allows individuals to prove they have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus or have recently tested negative, as part of an effort to fast-track the reopening of businesses, sports arenas and entertainment venues in the state.

New York is the first state to formally create a digital passport for Covid-19. The free online platform, called Excelsior Pass, was developed with IBM and works like a mobile airline boarding pass. Users are assigned a digital pass with a secure QR code, which they can print out or save to their smartphones. Participating businesses then use a companion app to scan the customers QR code and verify their Covid status. The state said peoples data would be kept secure and confidential.

The question of public health or the economy has always been a false choice the answer must be both, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said in a statement. As more New Yorkers get vaccinated each day and as key public health metrics continue to regularly reach their lowest rates in months, the first-in-the-nation Excelsior Pass heralds the next step in our thoughtful, science-based reopening.

The Biden administration has been monitoring private and nonprofit efforts to develop vaccine passports, and is working to ensure that they meet certain standards, including for privacy, Jeffrey D. Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, told reporters this month.

As we increase the number of people vaccinated, we know some people may have a need to demonstrate that they are vaccinated, Mr. Zients said. The private sector and not-for-profit coalitions are already beginning to work on this. Our role is to help ensure that any solutions in this area should be simple, free, open source, accessible to people both digitally and on paper, and designed from the start to protect peoples privacy.

As part of the initial launch, New Yorkers can use the digital pass to verify their Covid-19 status to attend games at stadiums and arenas, wedding receptions or other events above the states social gathering limit.

Major venues, including the 20,000-seat Madison Square Garden in New York City, have announced they plan to use this technology in the coming weeks. Beginning April 2, smaller arts and entertainment venues can also use Excelsior Pass. Interested New Yorkers can sign up for the app here.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released its guidance for people in the United States who have been fully vaccinated, which is two weeks after the second dose in the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine or two weeks after the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

It allows for the resumption of some activities in private settings between fully vaccinated people in small groups or a fully vaccinated household with one other unvaccinated household. It emphasized how fully vaccinated people should keep following health and safety precautions in public, including wearing a mask.

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Doctors in the Paris region warned Sunday that hospitals there may soon be overwhelmed with coronavirus cases as a third wave of the pandemic sweeps through the country, possibly forcing them to choose which patients they will treat.

In an op-ed article published in the Journal du Dimanche newspaper, 41 doctors said that vaccinations were not being administered fast enough, creating a catastrophic medical situation in which Paris region hospital capacity will be exceeded in the next two weeks.

We have never experienced such a situation, even during the worst attacks in recent years, the doctors wrote, referring to the attacks by Islamic State terrorists in Paris in 2015 that killed 130 people.

We will be forced to triage patients in order to save as many lives as possible, the doctors added, saying that the emergency would lead to non-access of care for some patients.

The warning comes as the number of Covid patients in intensive care in France hit 4,900, nearly the same level as a year ago, when the pandemic first surged into the country. The rise now is linked to the rapid spread of the variant first discovered in Britain. France has lagged behind other European countries in its vaccine rollout.

In an interview published Sunday in the same newspaper, President Emmanuel Macron defended a recent decision not to fully lock down the country despite the alarming surge.

The government recently imposed a nationwide curfew of 7 p.m. and closed nonessential businesses. But on Sunday, a warm sunny afternoon, crowds of people in Paris jammed the quais along the Seine river and thronged to parks, some not wearing masks while drinking and eating, prompting warnings from police officers patrolling the streets.

Mr. Macron, in the newspaper interview, left open the possibility of shifting course should hospitals face the threat of being overwhelmed.

The coming weeks will be difficult, he said. We will take all the necessary measures in due time, and in my view, there is no taboo.

In other news around the world:

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel warned of potential curfews as case rates continue to climb. The countrys vaccination rate 10 percent of the population has received at least a first shot, according to a New York Times database is behind other nations in Europe and around the world.

Britain, where at least 45 percent of the country is partly vaccinated, is set to lift at least two lockdown measures. As of Monday, up to six people, or two households, can gather outside; and outdoor sports sites, like tennis courts and basketball courts, can be used to a limited degree.

In Australia, the city of Brisbane announced a three-day lockdown after seven people were infected with the coronavirus, the first citywide lockdown in the country in more than a month. Starting at 5 p.m. on Monday, residents of Australias third-largest city will be allowed to leave their houses only for essential purposes such as buying groceries, exercising or seeking medical care and masks will be mandatory in public. Tests showed the virus spreading in Brisbane is the highly contagious variant first detected in Britain, officials said.

Chris Adams, 36, has spent the past year of the pandemic living with his grandparents in Wichita, Kan., and being extremely strict about social distancing. I never went out, he said.

But starting Monday, when all adults in Kansas become eligible for the coronavirus vaccine, Mr. Adams plans to find a vaccination site where there is an available appointment. What Im looking forward to is seeing my friends again, he said.

Kansas is one of six states Louisiana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas are the others that are expanding eligibility for the vaccine to all adults on Monday. Minnesota will follow on Tuesday, and Indiana and South Carolina on Wednesday.

Gov. Laura Kelly of Kansas urged residents last week to seek out appointments, saying, With the anticipated increase in supply from the federal government, we must get every dose of vaccine into arms quickly.

Even as vaccine eligibility continues to expand across America nearly all states have pledged to make every adult eligible by May 1 the United States has also reported an increase in new cases over the past week. About 75,000 new cases were reported on Friday, a significant increase from the 60,000 added the Friday before.

States in the Northeast have accounted for about 30 percent of the nations new cases over the past two weeks, up from 20 percent in the first couple of weeks in February.

In New York, there has been an average of 8,426 new cases a day, an 18 percent increase from the average two weeks earlier, according to a New York Times database. In New Jersey over the past week, there have been an average of 4,249 new cases reported daily, a 21 percent increase from the average two weeks earlier. And on Friday, Vermont set a single-day case record with 283 new infections; it is the first state to set a case record since Jan. 18.

For many, the vaccine cannot come soon enough.

Nicole Drum, 42, a writer in the Kansas City, Kan., metro area, cried on Friday when she found out that she would be eligible to get the vaccine as early as Monday. She started calling pharmacies and looking online for available appointments within minutes of the news breaking, she said.

Ms. Drum called about 10 places without success. She had more luck on a county website, and booked an appointment for Wednesday.

She said she planned to wear a special T-shirt saying I believe in science to her appointment. I got myself a fun Im-getting-the-vaccine outfit, she said, laughing.

She also plans to take her 4-year-old son with her, because she wants him to see how research and science and people coming together can really help stem these kinds of things, she said.

I want him to know that theres no need to be afraid all the time of big scary things, because there are always helpers trying to figure this out, Ms. Drum said. While the solution might be something thats a jab in the arm that hurts a little bit, its worth it.

transcript

transcript

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BARCELONA, Spain Mireia Serret, a 21-year old student at the University of Barcelona, said that she was not a big fan of the band that played here on Saturday, nor does she normally like large crowds.

Nevertheless, she snapped up one of the 5,000 tickets to Europes biggest indoor rock concert since the start of the pandemic. It had just been too long since I was last able to dance and have fun at a concert, she said.

Organized by a group of Spanish music promoters as part of an initiative called Festivals for Safe Culture, the concert in the Palau de Sant Jordi was presented as Europes boldest effort to get thousands into an indoor venue, without seating or mandatory social distancing. The sole act was Love of Lesbian, a Spanish indie rock band formed decades ago.

A hospital team helped test the concertgoers for the coronavirus beforehand. Six people tested positive, according to the organizers. The team is relying on public medical records to track whether any concertgoers later test positive.

At a time when countries like France and Italy have recently put their residents back under lockdown to help stop another wave of infection, the people behind the Barcelona event said their goal was to look ahead.

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Covid-19: Birx Lashes Trumps Pandemic Response and Says Deaths Could Have Been Decreased Substantially - The New York Times