Dr. Tony Fauci to warn of 'needless suffering and death' during Senate testimony

The head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases will warn the U.S. Senate of needless death from COVID-19 during Tuesday testimony.

Dr. Tony Fauci is set to testify before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions via videoconferencing as he is currently on modified quarantine after potential exposure.

"Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert and a central figure in the government’s response to the coronavirus, intends to warn the Senate on Tuesday that Americans would experience “needless suffering and death” if the country opens up too quickly," The New York Timesreported Monday evening.

Fauci sent an email to a reporter laying out his message.

“The major message that I wish to convey to the Senate HLP committee tomorrow is the danger of trying to open the country prematurely,” he wrote. “If we skip over the checkpoints in the guidelines to: ‘Open America Again,’ then we risk the danger of multiple outbreaks throughout the country. This will not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal.”