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Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs suggested Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx's warnings about the national COVID-19 outbreak have compromised President Donald Trump's reopening efforts on Thursday.
Arizona is one of several states—including Texas, California and Florida—where health officials have confirmed rapidly increasing case counts and subsequent hospital admissions since the start of June, following the termination of its stay-at-home order in mid-May. Parts of Maricopa County, the region reporting Arizona's highest concentration of virus diagnoses, fall within Biggs' congressional jurisdiction.
In a statement released by Biggs' office, the Republican congressman pointed out that Fauci and Birx's comments "continue to contradict" the economic recovery procedures that Trump prioritizes. Biggs argued the White House's COVID-19 Task Force, of which the doctors are leading members, should be disbanded as a result.
"As our economy is restored, it is imperative that President Trump is not undermined in his mission to return our economy to greatness," Biggs said in Thursday's statement, referencing the U.S. Department of Labor's latest report decreased nationwide unemployment rates compared to previous weeks.
"Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx continue to contradict many of President Trump's stated goals and actions for returning to normalcy as we know more about the COVID-19 outbreak," the congressman continued. "This is causing panic that compromises our economic recovery. We can protect our most vulnerable from the COVID-19 outbreak while still protecting lives and livelihoods of the rest of the population. It's time for the COVID-19 task force to be disbanded so that President Trump's message is not mitigated or distorted."
Newsweek reached out to Biggs' office and the NIAID for comments but did not receive replies in time for publication.
Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), has warned about the consequences of hasty reopening plans in states reporting spikes in new cases and hospitalizations related to the novel coronavirus. Fauci addressed the relationship between loosened restrictions and elevated virus transmission during a hearing held by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Tuesday.
In a testimony before the committee, he urged leaders in states seeing an uptick in COVID-19 cases to consider more moderate reopening strategies as well as ongoing virus mitigation practices.
"We are now having 40-plus thousand cases a day. I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around," Fauci told the committee. "It could get very bad."
The Arizona Department of Health Services confirmed the state's highest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases to date on Wednesday with 4,878 new diagnoses. According to the department's data, more than 87,400 people have tested positive for the novel virus and 1,757 have died across Arizona as of Thursday afternoon. Maricopa County has diagnosed more than 54,750 of the state's total infections.
Arizona's overall COVID-19 case count has increased by more than 65 percent over the last three weeks, with the health department's latest report indicating a statewide test-positivity ratio of 12.5 percent.
