Fauci pleads with young people to fight coronavirus in Facebook interview

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, took part in a livestreamed interview Thursday with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg — and pleaded with young people to take coronavirus prevention seriously.

What he said: "Please understand that you will play a major role in ultimately containing this infection by not being careless and avoiding and not listening to the recommendations of physical separation."

• "The fact is, that even though young people ... with some exceptions, as a group will not get seriously ill from this. They will and can get infected. And even though there may be minimal symptoms or no symptoms at all, they become the vector to infecting those people who are vulnerable, who can get in trouble."

The state of play: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said this week that "the party is over" for spring breakers in his state.

• College students traveled in droves to the open beaches in Florida, ignoring the federal government's encouragement to maintain social distance and abstain from nonessential travel.

The big picture: As of Friday morning, Fauci's nearly 40-minute Facebook interview had more than 3 million views.

Go deeper:

• Fauci on coronavirus: "We'll be thankful that we're overreacting"
• Top health official says U.S. coronavirus testing system is not "geared to what we need"