Fauci warns U.S. Senate that reopening early could have ‘really serious’ consequences

UPDATE: Dr. Anthony Fauci testified before a U.S. Senate committee Tuesday on the administration’s coronavirus response.

Among the key highlights of Dr. Fauci's testimony...

• The U.S. death toll is "almost certainly" higher than what's been reported
• We don't have the coronavirus outbreak under control
• It's "entirely conceivable and possible" there will be a second wave
• "Moral responsibility" to protect essential workers, like those in meat plants
• Reopening too early could have "really serious" consequences
• Warned of "spikes that might turn into outbreaks"
• There's a risk of uncontrollable coronavirus outbreaks if states prematurely reopen
• More deaths on the horizon without an "adequate" response by fall
• We hope to develop multiple coronavirus vaccines
• It's a "bridge too far" to think there will be a vaccine before college fall semesters start
• "Certainly President Obama nor President Trump are not responsible for not having a vaccine" 
• "We really better be very careful" when it comes to children and the virus
• Warned against "cavalier" thinking that children are immune to coronavirus
• School re-openings will vary by region
• "There is certainly not a confrontational relationship between me and the President"
• Asked how he's holding up: "I'm doing fine."

ORIGINAL REPORT: WASHINGTON, DC -- Dr. Anthony Fauci plans to tell U.S. senators on Tuesday that the nation risks "needless suffering and death" if the economy is reopened too quickly, the New York Times reported late Monday night.

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will testify via video conference at a Senate committee hearing on Covid-19 that is set to examine when it's safe to begin returning to normal.

Fauci e-mailed a Times reporter Monday night saying that he intended "to convey... the danger of trying to open the country prematurely."

In previewing his Senate remarks, Fauci indicated that if states reopen without following the White House's guidelines, there is the likelihood of surges in virus outbreaks which would "not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal."

Fauci has suggested that some states have started to reopen without following those guidelines that he helped draft. They require that states have a "downward trajectory" of new confirmed cases over a two-week period, along with increased testing capacity and contact tracing.

Tuesday's testimony will be Fauci's first appearance before Congress since President Trump declared a national emergency over the virus pandemic two months ago.