Dr. Anthony S. Fauci Day declared in D.C. for leading doc’s 80th birthday
Christmas Eve has to share the spotlight with the country’s leading infectious disease expert, at least in D.C.
Mayor Muriel Bowser has declared Dec. 24 to be “Dr. Anthony S. Fauci Day” in the nation’s capital, in honor of his 80th birthday and all his hard work this year, according to a formal proclamation.
Fauci, a longtime resident of D.C. with wife Christine Grady, has for much of this year been the face of America’s battle against the coronavirus pandemic.
In her proclamation, Bowser urged “all Washingtonians to join me in wishing him the happiest of birthdays.”
The longtime Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has had a busy birthday week, outside of COVID-19 work.
Over the weekend, Grady, the National Institutes of Health’s top bioethicist, instructed her husband to be home by 5:30 p.m. sharp, Fauci told The Guardian, where she threw him a surprise Zoom party.
“She is a genius at fooling me,” he said. “I mean, it’s very tough to fool me. But she threw surprise birthday parties for my 50th, 60th and 70th birthdays.”
Given the record spike in COVID-19 cases and health experts, including Fauci, advising people to avoid non-essential travel, he said he doesn’t “want to be one of those health officials who tells the world to do something and then they go out and have a party themselves.”
The White House’s coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx this week announced her plans to retire. Just days earlier, it was reported that Birx had traveled out of state over Thanksgiving weekend last month, though she insists the travel, to her property in Delaware, was not “for the purpose of celebrating” the holiday.
When Fauci got home Sunday, about 15 or so of his dearest friends from all over the globe cried “Surprise!” from a Zoom call.
“So what am I doing for my birthday?” he said to The Guardian. “I’ve already done it.”
