CNN's Sanjay Gupta reports Anthony Fauci was under general anesthesia when COVID-19 testing guidelines were changed
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From the August 26, 2020, edition of CNN's The Lead with Jake Tapper
SANJAY GUPTA (CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT): Well, you know, so this task force meeting where this apparently was discussed was last Thursday. So I was asking Dr. Fauci about this, and he said this -- I'm going to read this because I want to make sure I get it right. He said "I was under general anesthesia in the operating room last Thursday. Was not part of any discussion or deliberation regarding these new testing recommendations." And he went on to say "I'm concerned about the interpretation of these recommendations. I'm worried it will give people the incorrect assumption that asymptomatic spread is not of great concern. In fact, it is."
So, Jake, he wasn't part of the deliberations or discussions. And this is a problem, right? I mean, because Adm. Giroir was just asked about this on a briefing and he said Dr. Fauci signed off on this. He wasn't part of these discussions. He was under -- in the operating room for one thing. But also he doesn't agree with this in the sense that he thinks that this may give people the incorrect assumption that asymptomatic transmission's no big deal. It is a big deal, and we can talk about that. But this is worrisome. I mean, this is a clear schism, clear difference. We heard one thing from Adm. Giroir on the task force and now we're hearing something different from Dr. Anthony Fauci.