During Tuesday's daily White House
Coronavirus Task Force briefing, Dr. Anthony Fauci compared today's
pandemic to the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s.
Fauci was responding to reports that
African-Americans were disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, the
disease caused by the new coronavirus. He said that the disease has
“shed a light” on health disparities in the United States much
like the HIV/AIDS crisis did with gay people.
“During that time, there was
extraordinary stigma, particularly against the gay community,”
Fauci said. “And it was only when the world realized how the gay
community responded to this outbreak with incredible courage and
dignity and strength and activism – I think that really changed
some of the stigma against the gay community, very much so.”
Fauci, the head of the National
Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases, helped develop
treatments for HIV/AIDS, some of which are still in use today.
“When you're in the middle of a
crisis, like we are now with the coronavirus, it really does
ultimately shine a very bright light on some of the real weaknesses
and foibles in our society,” Fauci said.
The U.S. government is expected to
begin releasing data based on race and other factors later this week.
Preliminary data shows African-Americans being disproportionately
affected by COVID-19.
President Donald Trump said that the
disparity doesn't “make sense,” and added that he doesn't “like
it.”