Top US health officials vanish from national TV interviews as White House exerts control

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Leading US health and diseases experts have disappeared from national television as Donald Trump changes direction on his coronavirus messaging.

It comes as Mr Trump continues to push states towards ending Covid-19 lockdowns, and begins to prepare for November’s election despite the US death count passing 86,000 this week.

Still, no leading diseases expert has been seen discussing the pandemic on television since last Thursday, CNN reported.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, was the last to appear on television, more than one week ago, in an appearance on CNN.

Prior to that, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, was interviewed on national television during a discussion with Chris Cuomo on CNN on 4 May.

Meanwhile, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Robert Redfield, has not appeared on national television since an appearance on NBC News on 17 April.

Two other top health officials, the Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn, and the surgeon general, Dr. Jerome Adams, have not appeared on television since 28 April and 17 April respectively.

All five health officials sit on the White House coronavirus task force, which has managed and overseen the coronavirus pandemic in the US since February.

Dr. Fauci, who was dispatched as the White House health spokesperson at the start of the pandemic, appeared to break with Mr Trump’s messaging on Thursday.

He and other health officials have made other public appearances since their absence from television.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director told a US Senate committee on Thursday that the total death count could be much higher than 80,000.

He also warned against the immediate reopening of states, in contrast to the president’s messaging on ending lockdown.

“There is a real risk that you will trigger an outbreak that you might not be able to control and in fact, paradoxically, will set you back,” said Dr. Fauci. “Not only leading to some suffering and death that could be avoided, but even set you back on the road to trying to get economic recovery.”

Dr. Redfield and Dr. Hahn also testified before the Senate Health Committee this week.

Dr. Birx was meanwhile seen with Mr Trump on Wednesday during a meeting with governors.

The White House has not responded to The Independent’s request for comment.