Maybe it was only a matter of time.
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, President Biden’s top medical adviser for the coronavirus pandemic, has tested positive for the coronavirus and is experiencing “mild symptoms,” the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said Wednesday.
Dr. Fauci, the institute’s director, was positive on a rapid antigen test, the agency said in a statement. It added that he is fully vaccinated against the virus and has been boosted twice.
The 81-year-old Dr. Fauci has not recently been in close contact with President Biden or other senior government officials and would “isolate and continue to work from his home,” the statement said. He will return to his office once he tests negative.
Along with other top federal health officials, Dr. Fauci was expected to testify on Thursday before the Senate Health Committee on the state of the pandemic; an official said Dr. Fauci’s institute was working with committee staff to arrange for a remote appearance.
While much of the nation appears to be trying to move on, the coronavirus remains a threat. According to a New York Times database, more than 100,000 new cases are still being identified each day in the United States — a figure that has stayed roughly flat during the month of June. Many experts believe the number is an undercount because so many people are taking at-home tests whose results are not recorded with public health authorities.
While cases are declining in the Northeast and Midwest, cases and hospitalizations are surging in the West and South. Reports of deaths, however, remain low. Fewer than 350 deaths are being reported each day, the Times database shows, down from more than 2,600 a day at the height of the Omicron surge.
The positive test was the first for Dr. Fauci, one of the world’s foremost infectious disease specialists. He has spent 50 years in government and has advised seven presidents, beginning with Ronald Reagan, on epidemic and pandemic threats.
But the coronavirus pandemic turned Dr. Fauci into a political lightning rod. His public urging of health precautions like mask-wearing and social distancing made him a frequent target of critics who questioned or opposed such measures.
Perhaps more than anyone, he knows how infectious the coronavirus is. Earlier this spring, he decided against attending the White House Correspondents Dinner — a gathering of prominent political and media figures that featured an appearance by the president — “because of my individual assessment of my personal risk,” he said then. At the time, Dr. Fauci was preparing for other public engagements, including commencement speeches at Princeton and the University of Michigan.
The correspondents’ dinner, which drew more than 2,000 guests to a packed hotel ballroom, ended up spreading the virus among many journalists and other attendees.
