Fauci comments on US virus response seem to draw Trump's ire

Social restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus could have saved lives if they'd been started earlier, and when they're eased new cases are certain to arise, said the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, seeming to draw the ire of President Donald Trump.

Trump, who has been chafing at criticism that he didn't do enough early on to fight the virus, reposted a tweet that referenced Fauci's comments and that said "Time to #FireFauci".

Trump again pointed to his decision in late January to restrict travel from China, writing, "Sorry Fake News, it's all on tape. I banned China long before people spoke up."
"I mean, obviously, you could logically say that if you had a process that was ongoing and you started mitigation earlier, you could have saved lives. Obviously, no one is going to deny that. But what goes into those kinds of decisions is complicated."
Whenever restrictions ease, Fauci said, "We know that there will be people who will be getting infected. I mean, that is just reality."
Because states don't really have the capability to deal with a big volume of new cases, he said, "By July or August we could be back in the same situation we are now."