Dr. Saphier: Trump's COVID address 'exactly what Americans needed to hear'
Dr. Nicole Saphier reacts to President Trump's first coronavirus briefing since April
President Trump’s coronavirus briefing on Tuesday “was exactly what Americans needed to hear,” Fox News medical contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier told “Fox & Friends.”
In his first official press briefing on the pandemic since April, Trump admitted that the public health crisis is likely to worsen, as cases surge across the country. He also asked all Americans to wear masks in public.
“He gave a concise and pragmatic update without the rhetoric and without the false promises that so many people were betting on him providing,” Saphier said on Wednesday.
While Trump hailed his administration’s response to the pandemic and the work toward developing a vaccine, he bluntly disclosed what many Americans already know: that the crisis is likely to spread more before it can be contained.
“It will get worse before it gets better,” Trump said of the pandemic, which has infected close to 4 million Americans. “That’s something I don’t like saying but it is.”
Trump’s comments come after weeks where he either downplayed the virus’ continued spread or focused on other issues – from unrest over racial injustice in American cities to the removal of Confederate statues – despite cases of COVID-19 surging, particularly, in parts of the South and Southwest.
“What he did was, he told us, 'Yes, the cases are up and there is a spread throughout the country and a lot of it is going unchecked right now,'” Saphier said.
She went on to note that the president “gave the positive update.”
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Saphier also noted that the death rates have decreased and explained that “a lot of that is largely due to the improved treatments and protecting the vulnerable.”
“But, in the same very important message, he said it is important that people are wearing masks when unable to socially distance,” Saphier continued. “And it's really important for the president to deliver this message because there are a lot of people who criticize general mask-wearing and rightfully so. Generalized mask-wearing is not 100 percent [infallible]. But when we’re talking about public health, and really health care in general, it's not about absolutes. It's about risk reduction.”
Noting the concerns among many of his supporters that facial coverings impinge on their personal freedoms, on Tuesday Trump pleaded with Americans to wear masks out in public to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
While his comment on masks fell short of a national mandate, it is the strongest endorsement yet from the president, who until recently had questioned the efficacy of masks.
Trump on Monday tweeted a photo of himself in a face mask, calling it an act of patriotism, after months of resistance to being publicly seen in the coverings.
“If you can reduce the risk of transmission of this virus by up to 50 percent by wearing a cloth mask, that's the right thing to do right now moving forward,” Saphier said.
On Tuesday, Trump also touted the strides researchers in the country are making toward a possible vaccine, noting that the process is moving along quickly and promising results soon.
“Yes, it's very encouraging to know that treatments are on the horizons and vaccines may be on the horizons, but right now we need to do what we can to lessen the amount of percent positive,” Saphier continued.
She also noted that there is a “need to call on our industry to shorten the results time when it comes to testing.”
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“Right now people are being quoted five to ten days waiting for their test results, that's unacceptable moving forward,” Saphier said. “It has to be shorter than that and the president touched on that point of care testing in itself.”
Fox News’ Andrew O’Reilly and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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