‘Several months’ since Trump attended a Covid crisis meeting, Fauci says

The US’s top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci has said health officials should be allowed to start working with president-elect Joe Biden's transition team, adding that it has been months since Donald Trump attended a White House coronavirus taskforce meeting.

Dr Fauci, who is a leading member of the taskforce, was asked on CNN about whether the ongoing delay in the presidential transition process would affect the country’s handling of the pandemic. The US is already the worst-hit country in the world in terms of cases.

“Of course, that’s obvious. Of course, it would be better if we could start working with them [Biden-Harris transition team],” said Dr Fauci on Sunday, underscoring that it has been “several months” since Mr Trump physically attended a taskforce meeting.  

Mr Trump’s refusal to concede the election, more than a week after it was projected in Mr Biden’s favour, has kept the presidential transition process on hold, with Mr Biden’s own coronavirus team unable to access key Covid-19 data and vaccine distribution plans.

"As you know, I've been through multiple transitions now, having served six presidents for 36 years. And it's very clear that the transition process that we go through... is really important in a smooth handing over of the information as well as it's almost like passing the baton in a race," Dr Fauci said.

The leading immunologist, who has worked with both Democratic and Republican administrations since 1984, has had public differences of opinion with Mr Trump on a number of points since the coronavirus outbreak began in the country.  

From giving contradictory public statements to Mr Trump telling a rally he would fire after the election was over, the expert and the president have remained at odds on issues of the timeline for a vaccine, the opening up of states, among many others.

Meanwhile, Dr Fauci hailed Mr Biden's selection of Ron Klain as White House chief of staff, calling it an excellent choice. He said the two had a “successful ultimate endgame” in the fight against Ebola during the Obama administration.

Mr Trump has steadfastly refused to concede the presidential race, claiming that the election was rigged in favour of Mr Biden. He briefly acknowledged Mr Biden’s victory in a Twitter post on Sunday, saying he “won because the election was rigged”, but later clarified that he still concedes “nothing”.  

The coronavirus outbreak in the US is the fastest rising in the world, adding one million more new cases in just the past eight days. The country crossed the grim milestone of 11 million total cases on Sunday, according to Johns Hopkins University, as it battles a third wave of Covid-19 infections.