The Washington Post - USA (2020-08-01)

SATURDAY,AUGUST 1 , 2020 .THEWASHINGTONPOST EZ RE A

thecoronaviruspandemic

thisyear or earlynext year,and he

later gave aforceful denunciation

of astudy —touted by Trump—

thatclaimedthe drug hydroxy-

chloroquine has savedthe lives of

coronaviruspatients.

TheHouston doctor whoinsist-

ed in aviral video Monday that

hydroxychloroquine can prevent

and cure covid-19, the disease

caused by the novel coronavirus,

and shedoubleddownon her un-

provenclaims in anew interview

withthe TV station KPRC.

Duringthe13-minuteinterview

broadcastFriday, Stella Immanu-

el, aprimary carephysicianorigi-

nally fromCameroon,zealously

dismissed evidence thatunder-

mines her claims andembraced

the profile boostthatdaysofme-

dia coverage have giventoher

mostoutlandishmedicaltheory—

thatcertaindiseasesare caused by

sexwithdemons and witches.

But it was Immanuel’s message

thathydroxychloroquineisacoro-

naviruscure—onethatsheclaims

healthagencies worldwidehave

conspired to ignore —that’s

helpedhergaintractioninconser-

vativemediacircles.Trumpand

his eldestson are amongthose

whohave promoted herideas.

Immanuelclaimedthat former

presidential candidate Herman

Cain “likely wouldn’t have died”if

he had beentreated withhydroxy-

chloroquineand saidshe has ad-

ministered the drugto hundreds

of her ownpatients withpositive

results.

Deborah Birx, the WhiteHouse

coronavirus responsecoordina-

tor,said during an interview

ThursdaywithCNN thatthere is

“no evidence” thathydroxychloro-

quine works for treating covid-19,

and the drug performedpoorly in

randomized trials. It is mostcom-

monlyusedasanantimalarialand

to treatdisorderssuchas lupus

and rheumatoidarthritis.

And Faucicriticized aMichigan

hospital’srecent studythathy-

droxychloroquinesignificantly

cutthe covid-19death rate, calling

it a“flawed”trial.

Rep. JimJordan (R-Ohio) tried

togetFaucitoweighinonwhether

protests were moreacceptable

than going to schoolorchurch.

Fauciwouldnotengage,repeating

thatbeinginacrowdincreasesthe

possibility of transmission while

refusingtocharacterizethe na-

tureofthe crowd.

[email protected]

BYCAROLMORELLO

Thefailure of theUnitedStates
to stem the ferocious spreadof the
coronaviruswas on stark display
Fridayastop administration
healthofficialsappearingbefore a
House panel acknowledged
lengthytesting delays and a
hodgepodge of statepolicies that
protected no morethan halfthe
countrywith restrictionsaimedat
stoppingmoreinfections.
Testimonybefore the House se-
lectsubcommittee on thecorona-
virus crisis, whichis lookinginto
the Trumpadministration’s re-
sponse to the pandemic, was high-
ly partisan.Republican members
defendedthe approachadvanced
by theWhite House,and Demo-
cratstore into it, sayingthatthere
still is no national strategyand
thatthe death toll is soaring as a
result.
Withabout 4.5 millionAmeri-
cansinfected with the novelcoro-
navirus and about 150,000dead—
atollthatgrowsby1,000peopleor
moreeveryday —tempersflared
as the healthofficials found them-
selves in the middle of heatedde-
batesoverthe efficacyofacontro-
versial drug, the wisdomofre-
openingschoolsand ways to pre-
ventthevirusfromracingthrough
the country.
AnthonyS.Fauci, the country’s
leadingexpertoninfectious dis-
eases,told the panelthata“diver-
sityofresponse” fromstates had
hampered efforts to bringdown
the number of newinfections.In
contrast, he said,manyEuropean
nationswent intonear-total lock-
downs.
“When theyshut down or
locked downorwenttoshelterin
place—however you want to de-
scribeit—theyreallydid it to the
tuneofabout 95 percent plusof
the country,”Fauci saidofEurope-
an nations, answering aquestion
posed by the panel’s chair,Rep.
James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.)
TheTrumpadministration de-
cided to leave stateand localoffi-
cials to determine whatkind of
restrictionstoimpose, withmixed
results.
“When you actually look at

whatwedid,even thoughwe shut

down,even thoughit created a

great dealof difficulty, we really

functionallyshutdownonlyabout

50 percentin the sense of the

totalityofthe country,”Fauci said.

President Trump apparently

waswatchingthe exchangeon

televisionandwithinafew min-

utes chidedthe committee chair-

manin atweet thatrepeatedthe

widely discredited assertionthat

theU.S.caseload is goinguponly

becausetestinghas increased.

“Somebody please tell Con-

gressmanClyburn, whodoesn’t

have aclue, thatthe chartheput

up indicating moreCASES for the

U.S. thanEurope, is because we do

MUCHMOREtestingthanany

other countryinthe World,”

Trumptweeted as the hearing was

goingon.

TheUnitedStatesadministers

700,000to 900,000 tests aday,a

volumehealthexperts sayisinsuf-

ficientfor containing the virus.

Brett P. Giroir,the federal

healthofficialoverseeingcorona-

virus testing,touted the Trump

administration’sefforts but add-

ed, “Wecannot testour wayout of

thisorany other pandemic.”

Giroiracknowledgedthatget-

tingresults back to all patients

within twotothree days is not

possiblenow,thoughhesaidthat

75 percent of test results come

within five days. Wait timeshave

alsostretchedtoaweekormorein

someplaces,effectivelyrendering

tests useless in slowing transmis-

sion.

Aconsensusis emergingthat a

firstwaveofthediseaseisnotover.

Many placesaround the world

thatfoughtback coronavirus out-

breaks in the spring are reporting

record surges in newcases.

France, for example, reporteda

54 percentincreasein infections

in thepastweek.

In the United States, manySun

Beltstates have becomecoronavi-

rus hotspots,and casenumbers

are spiking in the Midwestand

other regions.

Thecountryhas almost aquar-

ter of the morethan17million

coronavirusinfections confirmed

worldwide. Testimonyfromthe

Hearing underscores

U.S. failure to halt virus

Newcoronaviruscasesand deaths in the U.S., by day

CASES DEATHS

150,

Total

4,531,

Total

As of 8p.m.Friday

Feb.2 9 July 31 Feb.2 9 July 31

0

2,

2,

1,

1,

500

1,

65,81 7

0

10,

20,

30,

40,

50,

60,

70,

7-day

average

7-day

average

U.S. health expertssuggested that

the widely divergent policies

amongstates andregionsof the

country, as wellas resistanceby

someAmericanstopracticingbasic

protective measures such as wear-

ingmasksandavoidingcrowds,are

at leastpartiallyresponsible.

Thehearing touchedonarag-

ing debateoverwhether children

should return to classroomsfor

in-personinstruction,orcontinue

learningremotely.

RobertRedfield,the director of

the Centersfor DiseaseControl

and Preventionandagrandfather,

saidhethinksitisinchildren’s

interesttoreturnto their class-

rooms.

“I want these kidsback in

school,” he testified.“Iwantit

donesmartly,but Ithink we have

to be honestthatthe public health

and interestofthe studentsin the

nation rightnow is to getaquality

educationandface-to-face learn-

ing.Weneedtoget on withit.”

But areportreleasedFridayby

the CDCmayfurther fuelparental

fears thatareturnto classrooms is

too risky. Thereport suggests that

children of all ages are susceptible

to coronavirusinfectionsand also

mayspread thevirus.

Thereportdetailsanoutbreak

at asummercamp in Georgialast

month in which260 children and

staffers —more thanthree-quar-

tersofthose tested—contracted

the viruslessthanaweek after

spending timetogetherinclose

quarters.

Allthecampersandstaffershad

testednegativeforthevirusbefore

arriving.Butthechildrenwerenot

requiredto wearmasks,although

staffers were.

Thevirus continues to casta

shadowon almostevery aspect of

Americanlife.Major LeagueBase-

ballhas canceled 14 games in its

abbreviated season. Some30mil-

lionAmericans willlosethe en-

hancedjoblessbenefitof$600a

weekbecauseCongressand the

White House are at an impasse on

extending it. Even withoutana-

tional policyonmitigation efforts,

more states are considering clos-

ing barsand are mandating mask-

wearing in public.

Fauci again saidhewas opti-

mistic that avaccineis possible

MARCOBELLO/REUTERS

Anambulancecrewmovesacovid-19patientWednesdayinthecityofHialeahinMiami-DadeCounty,

Fla.AHousehearingFridayonthecoronaviruspandemicwascontentiousandpartisan.

8/30/20.