Top infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci’s work schedule may be wall-to-wall busy, but according to him his social life is essentially nonexistent.
“I don’t socialize. It’s my wife and I and the federal agents. We’ve sort of become like a new family unit,” Fauci told HuffPost. “I have federal agents that protect me. So they drive me to work, they stay here, they make sure that nobody tries to break in [to my home] and, as Steve Bannon would like, have somebody behead me.”
Fauci doesn’t do socially distanced visits with friends or family, or even ride the metro or go grocery shopping. He had a virtual Thanksgiving with his children, as he encouraged many others to do. On occasion, however, he will order take-out.
Throughout the pandemic, Fauci has consistently pushed social distancing. He’s becoming increasingly adamant about gatherings over the holidays, strongly advocating for people not to travel or meet with anyone outside of their immediate households as cases continue to surge around the country.
Fauci’s extreme measures make sense: Not only is he at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic, but he is also turning 80 this month.
“One, because nobody wants to get infected, but two, I really have an important job that I’d hate to be laid up for because I got infected,” he said.