Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy...

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies via teleconference during a Senate hearing Tuesday. Credit: Pool / EPA / Win McNamee

The optics were extraordinary. But the message was utterly familiar.

Reopening states too quickly from coronavirus shutdowns would lead to avoidable deaths, suffering and further economic damage, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned during a congressional hearing Tuesday. He should be heeded.

The timing was auspicious. Fauci, the nation's top infectious diseases expert, spoke as nearly all of the 50 states have started to reopen, or plan to do so imminently — even as many have not met federal guidelines for doing so, still have rising numbers of new infections, and lack the capacity to respond effectively to them. When you ignore those checkpoints, Fauci said to the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, you could "see little spikes that might turn into outbreaks ... The consequences could be really serious.”

That's for a nation with more than 80,000 deaths already.

Left unsaid was context from countries lauded for their COVID-19 responses that are beginning to open up. In Germany, the infection rate and new cases are rising. In South Korea, one positive case in a nightclub patron was tied to 85 new cases and the re-closure of thousands of nightclubs, bars and discos. Even Wuhan, China, the origin of the pandemic, is finding new cases after more than a month of none.

The Capitol Hill hearing room offered its own jarring juxtaposition. Fauci, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Robert Redfield, and FDA commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn — all quarantining after possible exposure to a COVID-19-positive White House staffer — testified remotely. Committee chairman Lamar Alexander presided from his home in Tennessee, quarantining after one of his staffers tested positive. Numerous other senators also participated remotely. Some in attendance wore face masks.

Fauci and his peers correctly emphasized the importance of testing and contact tracing in efforts to reopen, especially when it comes to schools, but the senators were as quick as everyone else to ask: "Where are the tests?" Republicans Richard Burr, Pat Roberts, Bill Cassidy and Mitt Romney made the criticism of President Donald Trump's administration bipartisan on that count. And Romney rightly lambasted the CDC for not using money Congress allocated to update its data-collection system. The agency's lack of real-time data and its inability to coordinate with state systems is a public-health scandal that must be corrected.

The testimony has important implications for New York. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has announced a phased-in reopening in three upstate areas starting Friday. This must be done very carefully. While small groups protest loudly for quick action, it's worth noting that solid majorities of adults in Texas and Georgia, whose Republican governors heeded Trump's call to open up promptly, say their states are lifting restrictions too quickly. Confidence also must be tempered by the realization that one of the world's most tested and monitored workplaces, the White House, has had two positive cases in recent days.

As Fauci said, we still don't have complete control of this virus. We should go forward with humility and caution. 

— The editorial board

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