The doctor will turn 80 on 24 December and plans to celebrate responsibly as US coronavirus cases continue to rise at record-breaking level
Advice is a dangerous gift, not least if you don’t practice what you preach. But one person whose modus operandi is the exact opposite of “do as I say not as I do” is Dr Anthony Fauci, who will turn 80 on 24 December and plans to celebrate on Zoom.
After already eschewing in-person partying for Thanksgiving (he and his wife didn’t allow their children to visit them during the holidays), Dr Fauci will do the same on his birthday this year – his first celebration without his three daughters.
“We’re going to have a Zoom celebration with my wife and I in my house, and my children scattered throughout the country,” Fauci told CBS News anchor Norah O’Donnell. This should not be special news, considering the pandemic has taken the lives of 284,000 Americans, and with cases continuing to rise at record-breaking levels. But then again, when the US president and his entourage still won’t stop holding parties, rallies and super-spreader events – even after a number of them have gotten sick – it’s almost extraordinary to see a public official practice such restraint.