© REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueAnthony Fauci (R), director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease and Dr. Anne Schuchat of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention speak with reporters during a press briefing about the Zika virus at the White House in Washington February 8, 2016.
Anthony Fauci is head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. In the article, linked below, he states that COVID-19 may turn out to be comparable to a seasonal flu or similar to two relatively minor flu pandemics in 1957 and 1968. It is estimated that seasonal flu kills about 500,000 people globally every year and the two flu pandemics he cited each are thought to have killed about a million people globally. Below is an excerpt of the article.
Covid-19 — Navigating the Uncharted
It is not over yet, but this is much less than what our hysterical media and politicians have led us to believe. In the beginning of this historic, media-fueled panic, it sounded like millions would die in the US alone and tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, globally."On the basis of a case definition requiring a diagnosis of pneumonia, the currently reported case fatality rate is approximately 2%. In another article in the Journal, Guan et al. report mortality of 1.4% among 1099 patients with laboratory-confirmed Covid-19; these patients had a wide spectrum of disease severity. If one assumes that the number of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic cases is several times as high as the number of reported cases, the case fatality rate may be considerably less than 1%. This suggests that the overall clinical consequences of Covid-19 may ultimately be more akin to those of a severe seasonal influenza (which has a case fatality rate of approximately 0.1%) or a pandemic influenza (similar to those in 1957 and 1968) rather than a disease similar to SARS or MERS, which have had case fatality rates of 9 to 10% and 36%, respectively."
Ana Laura Palomino García on Patriot Fire Net
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Global Research Editor's note
Ironically, the media panic referred to by Ana Laura Palomino García is being fuelled by Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is playing a central role as a spokesperson in mainstream media reports.
His analysis in the New England Journal of Medicine is in sharp contrast with some of his frenzied statements on network TV, often taken out of context and/or misquoted by the media including press reports and headlines.
Dr. Anthony Fauci is described as America's trustworthy voice on coronavirus, "often correcting President Donald Trump" who compares the COVID-19 to the Seasonal Flu. But isn't that what Fauci is doing in his NEJM article. (In that regard Trump's comparison is correct).
Fauci is by far a CNN favorite, providing "authoritative" statements on the virus:"Over the weekend, Fauci told CNN that the pandemic could ultimately kill between 100,000 and 200,000 people in the US should mitigation be unsuccessful."
"Serving a president who initially dismissed coronavirus by comparing it to seasonal flu, Fauci has been even-handed in public." (emphasis added)
He certainly does not inform Americans in a cautious way. He does not reassure Americans.
His authoritative statements often have no factual backing.
The Guardian screenshot, March 29
The most commonly reported symptoms [of COVID-19] included fever, dry cough, and shortness of breath, and most patients (80%) experienced mild illness. Approximately 14% experienced severe disease and 5% were critically ill. Early reports suggest that illness severity is associated with age (>60 years old) and co-morbid disease. (largely basing on WHO's assessment of COVID-19 in China)
The Hill, March 19, 2020
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Thanks to Ana Laura Palomino García for having brought the NEJH article to our attention *
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