Yet Another Government Official Urged Covid-19 Vigilance Before Scheduling a Holiday Party
Politics

Another day, another government official telling Americans to follow covid-19 safety protocols that they themselves refuse to follow. White House Coronavirus Task Force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx has long urged vigilance regarding the deadly pandemic, telling CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta just last month that people should limit holiday celebrations to one’s “immediate household.”
But not to take her own advice, Birx reportedly skirted covid-19 safety protocols over Thanksgiving, retreating to one of her vacation homes in Delaware and holing up with her husband, daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended Americans not to travel this holiday season or gather indoors with people from different households. From Politico:
Even in Birx’s everyday life, there are challenges meeting that standard. She and her husband have a home in Washington. She also owns a home in nearby Potomac, Maryland, where her elderly parents, and her daughter and family live, and where Birx visits intermittently. In addition, the children’s other grandmother, who is 77, also regularly travels to the Potomac house and returns to her 92-year-old husband near Baltimore.
Sure, the isolation that makes up ‘best practices’ is a tough road to navigate for plenty of Americans. Many people have taken guarded risks—getting tested, traveling by car only, keeping gatherings to five people are less—but they’re still risks, and perhaps someone leading a task force fighting the spread of the pandemic should be held to a higher standard than a college student who hasn’t seen their family in months, or a nurse deciding to see their parents over Christmas. And news of Birx’s holiday travel could even jeopardize her chances of remaining on the covid-19 task force once President-elect Biden is inaugurated.