When public health officials such as Dr. Deborah Birx implore Americans to be vigilant in safety and limit indoor interaction to their immediate household, it can be extremely hard to adhere to the restrictions for many.
Right, Dr. Birx? The White House coronavirus response coordinator spent the day after Thanksgiving at a Delaware vacation property with three generations of her family from two households—Birx, her husband, a daughter, a son-in-law and two grandchildren.
Birx delivered the warning before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, but she told The Associated Press in a statement (she declined to be interviewed) that the 50-hour trip to winterize the home included her “immediate household” but acknowledged they live in two different homes.
“Some people may have made mistakes over the Thanksgiving time period,” Birx told CBS’ “Face the Nation” during the stay when she mentioned that some Americans “went across the country or even into the next state.”
Birx hoped to continue a coronavirus task force role in the Joe Biden administration, although she previously drew criticism for not speaking out when President Donald Trump contradicted physicians and scientists regarding COVID-19.
Georgetown Center for Global Health Science and Security virologist Dr. Angela Rasmussen told AP, “To me, this disqualifies her from any future government health position. It’s a terrible message for someone in public health to be sending to the American people.”
AP learned of the trip from Kathleen Flynn, the sister of Birx’s son-in-law. “She cavalierly violated her own guidance,” Flynn told AP.
The Birx family Christmas ought to be fun with this sort of family friction and societal scrutiny.
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