After Tuesday’s Senate testimony by Dr Anthony Fauci, Senator Kamala Harris praised the government’s leading infectious disease expert for speaking the truth about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

In an appearance on MSNBC, Senator Harris slammed Donald Trump’s messaging regarding the crisis and suppression of the work of public health professionals.

“Thank god for Dr Fauci, thank god for him having the courage to speak truth,” said Ms Harris.

“God only knows what repercussions he’s going to face for speaking the truth, but obviously he has the well-being of the American people as his priority as opposed to the political patronage that this president thinks he’s due,” she added.

Dr Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told a Senate committee on Tuesday that if states open too quickly, they could be dealing with new Covid-19 outbreaks “that you cannot control.”

“There is no doubt when you pull back on mitigation, you will see cases appear,” he said. “It's not only doing it at the appropriate time, with the appropriate restraints, but ... responding when the infection recurs.”

The Senate Health, Education, Labour and Pension Committee hearing covered the availability of Covid-19 testing for the general population and the difficulties associated with reopening the economy and easing stay-at-home orders.

Dr Fauci and other health officials remain optimistic about vaccine development and even suggested that schools might be able to reopen in August and September.

Before her praise of Dr Fauci, Senator Harris said that nothing has changed regarding the president’s disposition and failure to embrace truth and speak truth to the American people.

“Donald Trump is attempting to suppress the work and word of public health professionals, and this is after a long line of activities by him that have been about a failure of leadership,” Ms Harris said. “From rejecting the seriousness of [the coronavirus], calling it a hoax, to trying to muzzle the voices of public health professionals, so this is just more of the same.”

On Wednesday morning the US had 1.37 million confirmed cases of Covid-19, and had officially recorded 82,391 deaths from the virus.

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