Anthony Fauci's wife has to remind him to eat and sleep while working 20-hour days during coronavirus crisis
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the immunologist at the forefront of America's response to the coronavirus pandemic, is working 20-hour days and has to be reminded to sleep and eat, his wife has revealed.
Fauci, 79, has become a household name in the country following his regular appearances alongside President Donald Trump at the daily press briefings of the coronavirus task force is said to have been working himself to the ground during the pandemic.
In his 36-year career as an infectious disease expert, he has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases under six different administrations and previously helped handle epidemics and pandemics like HIV, SARS, MERs, and most recently, Ebola.
The 79-year-old is known to be a workaholic who regularly worked 16-hour days while simultaneously squeezing in a seven-mile run during lunch-time, and that work ethic is said to have skyrocketed further during the current outbreak.
His wife of 35 years, Christine Grady, told CNBC's 'Make It' that he is working 19 to 20-hour days regularly and she has to remind him to take care of his health. "I try to get him to rest, to drink water, to eat well, to sleep, and to be selective about what he agrees to and say no to some things," she said.
Grady, 67, a bioethicist who works at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, has been called into action herself during the pandemic and said she and her husband are both doing their best to look after themselves while juggling their demanding jobs. "We are trying to get some sleep and eat as regularly as possible, washing our hands all the time and cleaning surfaces and anything we touch, especially when coming in from outside," she shared.
In her role as a bioethicist, Grady has to decide what is the "right" thing to do when conflicting values and uncertainty arise in clinical care, research and health policy and said that she had "many challenging issues to deal with" right now.
Her work at a hospital has also meant she has to physically distance herself from her coworkers while at the office. "Almost all of our meetings are virtual," she said, adding that they "are washing our hands all the time and wearing masks."
Grady revealed that, while she doesn't get to spend too much time with her husband these days, they still try to do some activities together. "We like to power walk and have succeeded in walking a few times together. Other times I walk without him," she said, also sharing that they were "coping like everyone else."
Fauci recently had to be given a security detail after it emerged that he had received multiple threats and "unwelcome communications" from his "admirers."
"The concerns include threats as well as unwelcome communications from fervent admirers, according to people with knowledge of deliberations inside the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice," a report said.
"The exact nature of the threats against him was not clear. Greater exposure has led to more praise for the doctor but also more criticism."