The Daily Show: Ears Edition - ICYMI - Anthony Fauci on the State of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Episode Date: September 27, 2020

Dr. Anthony Fauci discusses America's lack of a consistent, centralized source of coronavirus information, the politicization of wearing protective masks and more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives. But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look on Apple podcasts starting September 17th. Dr. Fauci, welcome back to the daily social

distancing show. Thank you, very nice to be with you. Thank you for having me. Before I ask you about us, I'm going to try as we do in African culture and ask you about you. I know that you had surgery on your vocal cord, something I'm very sensitive to because I too had polyps and I had to get them surgically removed. How are you and how is your voice? I'm actually fine, Trevor. Thank you for asking. You know, I should have had had thied thirededededededededededededededededededededededededededededededed to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be thired, to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be. to be. to be. to be. to be. to be. to be to be to be. to be to be thi. thi. thi. thr. thr. thr. thr. thr. thr. toea. toea. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. asking, you know, I should have had this done literally months ago. I had kind of strained my voice. I had actually an upper respiratory infection and had a little tracheitis. Usually you rest and let it go away, but that's when things started to explode with COVID-19.

And I was literally constantly, and I say not hyperbole, you know, 17, 18 hours a day talking to the point where I just strained it and strained it and strained it and then I realized my voice was gravelly and I could not get it back to normal. But the surgery was very successful. They removed a benign polyp and now this is my regular voice. So I joke around and instead of sounding like Vito Corleone from the godfather I sound like Tony Fauci from the NIH. As somebody who's had the surgery I know a horrible it can be so I'm glad

that you have your voice back and there are few people who need their voices more than you do especially considering what's going on right now not just in America but around the world. I spoke to you six months ago the country saw you every day we we had a the to. We to. We to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. the to. the the the to. the to. the the the to. to to to to to to to to the the the the to. to. I'm to. I'm to. I'm their. I'm their. I'm their. I their. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. I. I. I. I. I th. I th. th. th. th. the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm the the the I spoke to you six months ago. The country saw you every day. We had a routine. We wake up, we see Dr. Fauci. He gives us an update, we know what we're doing on what we're not doing. Then you disappeared, and now I have to rely on Facebook to know how to not or not fight the virus,

or fight the virus. So where have you been? You know, there's been a change in the intensity with which the coronavirus task force, the White House coronavirus task force, has been involved. It used to be on a daily basis when we were talking about the public health issues. Then there was kind of a switch in a pivoting that was focusing mostly on opening the economy and opening the country, which is a good thing. So we did, we're not meeting as frequently. And you remember, we used to have like a press conference every single day.

And they decided that they were not, they were going to pull back and have mostly the president give the press conference. And then, you know, we are sometimes on the media, sometimes not. It's kind of erratic, like on the classic media, you might see me a couple days in a row, and then I'm off for a while. And it's just a question of whether they have a message that they want out, and if it's the message that they want out

at that particular day, then you might go out. If not, you don't go out. That's the reason why I value the opportunity to speak with you and to others, because I think we can get the public health measure that I really feel is very important for the health of the American public to be able to say it in a way that's received by the people who really would benefit from it. Yeah, because I'm not going to lie to you, Dr. Farchi, right now it feels like everyone is making this up as they go along. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. T, that's that I that I that I that I that I that I that I that I that I that I that I that I that I that I that I that I that I that I that I that I that I that I that I that I that I th. That's, th. That's, th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thee. that's that's that I that I that I thi. th up as they go along because it doesn't feel like the public has a solid source from which to deal with. You know, you'll hear one thing from the CDC, then another

thing from the CDC. We don't know when it gets updated or not. Then the director of the CDC says something. Then the president contradicts him. Then we hear that this is happening with masks or not with vaccines. Is there a reason there isn't a centralized source of information like there is in many other countries around the world? Well, you know, Trevor, that's a difficult question to give a satisfactory explanation for, because as a matter of fact, there, you know, there has been switches in how the messages have gone out. And you're right, I, you know, from a research and public health standpoint, I try my best and I think I'm successful in giving a consistent

message as often as I can get the message out, something that is just based on the scientific data, based on evidence, which is something that is really very important. One of the things that I think gets in the way is that we are in such a divisive state in society that it tends to get politicized. It's almost the one side versus the other. And the thing that I keep saying, and I'll say it very briefly now,

because I think it's important is that everybody feels we need to open the economy to get people back to work, to get people back to school. But the public health messages that we've given and that you've heard me give back months ago when we used to have the press conferences from the White House is that public health measures should be more of a gateway and a pathway to opening the country as opposed to the obstacle to opening the country. So what is evolved now is that almost people take sides, like wearing a mask or not is a political statement and that's really very unfortunate, totally unfortunate because this is a purely public

health issue. It should not be one against the other. And I think the confused messages that you're alluding to correctly and appropriately is that you don't have a single message when messages get sort of thrown into political buckets. And that's something that I really wish that, you know, conversations like you and our and are having now would dispel that and put that aside and say, for goodness sakes, I've never had any political ideology that I've made public. I'm really just talking to you about public health. When I'm telling you wear a mask, keep social distancing,

avoid crowds, wash your hands, do things outdoors more than indoors, there's nothing political about that. That's a public health message that we know works. Because every time groups of people have done that in situations where you've had a surge of infections, the surge has come around and come down. So we have within our capability the ability to turn this around. If you were to rate America's response to the coronavirus on a scale of one to ten, as an

epidemiologist, where do you rate it? Well, you know, it's very interesting because if you look at the numbers, Trevor, the numbers are Trevor, the numbers are telling. We have in this country now, you know, close to 200,000 deaths. We have 6 million plus infections. You can't look at that and say, that's terrific. But if you look at the country, there are parts of the country that have done well,

that are doing well. Right now, what I'm liking liking like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like like I'm like I'm like I'm like I'm like I'm like I'm like I'm like I'm like I'm like I'm like I'm like I'm like I'm like I'm like like like I'm like like like like like like like like like like thi like thi, thi, thi, the country that have done well, that are doing well. Right now, what I'm liking, what I'm seeing is that some of the numbers are coming down. What I'm concerned about is that our baseline is still very, very high, Trevor. It's like, it never got below 20,000 new cases a day. When we try to open up the economy, as it were, some states jumped ahead of the guidelines. Some people didn't listen to what the governors and what the mayors were saying. And remember, we went way up to 70,000. And now we're coming back down to 30 or 40,000.

But the thing I'm concerned about is that as you go into the fall and winter and more things will have to be done indoors rather than outdoors, you want to start off with the lowest possible baseline that you could have. So in the next several weeks, what I would love to see is the country pulling together as a whole to try and get that baseline down so that when we go into the winter and the fall and we perhaps get hit with a flu season I hope that people will get their flu vaccines that we're not struggling at a disadvantage because you have a disadvantage when this

community spread and you have 40,000 new infections each day. That is not a good place to be. Let me ask you two questions to that. Number one, how do you respond to the people who say, well the infection rates shouldn't matter, it's only the death rates that should matter and even then the death rates are being inflated and some people are saying people have died from corona when in fact people are dying with corona as they just have the death rates are being inflated. And some people are saying people have died from Corona when in fact people are dying with Corona. As in they just have Corona and they're dying, but it's not Corona that causes their death.

I think the 200,000 deaths that you're talking about, Trevor, are a good reflection of people that likely would not have died if they didn't have this infection. The thing that I think think think think think th th th th th th think that I that I think that I think that I that I that I think that I think that I think thi thi that I thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their their their their their their their their their their th. th. the. the. the. I the. I the. the. the. the. the. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. tea. thea. thea. thea. thea. thea. they didn't have this infection. The thing that I think we need to be careful and humble about in that we don't know everything about this infection, but when we're starting to see right now are a couple of things that are troubling to me. And that is that, first of all, more and more young people you see when you look at it are getting into some significant trouble. Not a lot, not a high percentage, that's true. The other

thing is that when people get infected, we're seeing more and more of lingering signs and symptoms so that when you clear the virus, you may have weeks or months or so in which you just not quite right. And the final thing is that they've recently done a study that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Cardiology where people who recovered even from disease that wasn't that severe, when you do MRIs or imaging, you can see things like inflammation of the heart.

Now, they may not be symptomatic, but we want to make sure that six months or a year from now, they don't wind up with unexplained arrhythmia's or premature heart attacks or cardiomyopathy's. So the situation is not wrapped up about what is the full impact of this, which means we have to take it very seriously, even among people who are obviously in trouble and die. There's other people that we need to be concerned about. Many people say that they will only take a vaccine once Dr. Fauci says, the vaccine is safe.

My question to you is, if everyone's asking Dr. Fauci, who does Dr. Faui ask, when do you think th th th th th th th th th th th th to th to to th th th to to to th th to th to to to th to to th to to to th to to to to to to to to to to to tak thi thi to to to to to to to to take to take to to take to to take to take to take to take to take to take to take to to to to to to to to to to t to th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi take take take.e. take. take. ta. try. ta. try toa. tooooooooooo. toe. toe question to you is if everyone's asking Dr. Fauci, who does Dr. Fauci ask? When do you think a vaccine is safe? I look at the data, Trevor. In fact, the data and safety monitoring board, which is an independent group that monitors the trials. They look at the data, they analyze it with independent statisticians, and they will say, this is effective, and then you look at the number of people that have been on the trial for a period of an additional 30 to 60 days and if you don't see any obvious serious adverse events then I would consider that effective and safe and I would take it myself.

We know that we should wear masks when we are indoors in a closed environment but it feels like there's confusion when it comes to a few other things. So I'm just going to shoot a few rapid-fire ones that you have written them down, and you'll just tell me yes or no, whether or not we should be wearing a mask. So, should I be wearing a mask? Should I be wearing a mask? Not necessarily, no. people in the outside. But if you're alone and there's nobody near you and you're riding your bike, you don't need to wear the mask.

OK, what about if I'm eating in a restaurant where they are open? Should I put my mask on between courses? Because I can take it off to eat? Do I have to put it on between the courses? Yeah, I then put it back up when you're waiting for the waiter or something to occur. But now people have said that there's coronavirus on your neck, so should I put it on my neck or can I get coronavirus from my neck when the mask come back to my mouth? Good question. If you just flip it up and down, you don't want to to put your hand on the outside of it. Okay, got. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. to to to to to to to thi. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to the the the the the the th. th. the th. th. th. th. th. the th. th. th. th. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the thoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. to to to put your hand on the outside of it. Okay, got it. In an empty elevator, do I put my mask on?

Well, you know, the answer is, when the door open, somebody might walk in and you have no idea, you know, who's gonna walk in, so you might wanna just keep it on. By the way, let me show you, see this? This is what I do. You have it on, you go like like like, you go like, you go like, you go, the, the, th. the, the, the, the, the, the, the, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, when, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the it's up. What if you're talking to somebody and they don't understand what you're saying? Do you put it down to say something or do you just like practice saying it louder? No, you say it again and repeat it. That's a really good point because when you then put down, you tend to speak louder with

more force and that's when all of the particles, if they're there, if you're infected will come out. I would leave the mask on. All right, and then my final one, if you are in a movie theater, some people are going to movies around the country and you're watching Christopher Nolan's new movie tenet, right, and then there's only two people in the cinema. Do you put your mask on or do could keep it off. But remember, you gotta be careful because in the theater, if there's not good ventilation,

there could be aerosol in that. Myself, what I would do, I would probably keep it on just to be safe. Because I'm indoors. That's the reason, because I'm indoors. Okay, well, Dr. Fauci, I hope we see you again soon. I hope it is not six months, and I hope that we don't have a worst case of coronavirus. I hope people wear their masks. Thank you for taking your time.

Don't forget to do your vocal warm-ups. It helps me a lot before I talk for a long time. And last thing, last thing I will say to you is, would you consider getting one of those celebrity phone numbers? personally, then we could just, because like celebrities text people and go like, hey, my concert is coming out. You could do that and just tell us, hey guys, here's the new update for Corona. Just a thought. You should consider it, Dr. Fauci. I will do that. Thank you.

Just text the nation. thanks. And you too. Stay safe. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central and the Comedy Central app. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. This has been a Comedy Central Podcast. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives.

But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Min Like, none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look on Apple podcasts starting September 17.