Infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci on Wednesday called conspiracy theories suggesting the novel coronavirus death toll is inflated because sick people are dying with the virus — not because of it — "nothing but distractions."
What they're saying: Fauci said at the White House press briefing, "You will always have conspiracy theories when you have very challenging public health crises. They are nothing but distractions."
Deborah Birx, the White House's coronavirus response coordinator, also noted on the "co-morbidities": "Those individuals will have an underlying condition. But that underlying condition did not cause their acute death when it's related to a COVID infection."
"In fact, it's the opposite," she added. "Having an underlying condition and getting this virus we know is particularly damaging to those individuals."
