https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/17/trump-scott-atlas-coronavirus-doctor-396741
Dr. Scott Atlas warns against
coronavirus overreaction and hysteria, pushes for the reopening of
schools and sports leagues and downplays the need for broader testing to
root out the virus.
Unlike bigger-name, more circumspect
public health officials, who’ve watched their luster dim at the White
House, Atlas has become a star adviser in President Donald Trump’s inner
circle at a crucial moment during the pandemic.
Atlas,
upbeat and relentlessly on message that Americans should resume life as
much as they can, is the live embodiment of the president’s
Covid-is-not-that-big-of-a-deal approach. Where school superintendents
and football conference officials see a risk of the virus’s spread this
fall, he cautions against too-strict measures. During Fox News
appearances, he has downplayed the need for students to wear face
coverings or practice social distancing if schools do reopen.
“It
is proven children have no significant risk,” he said during a July 15
TV appearance. It’s a line that Trump has parroted but that hasn’t been
borne out in districts where in-person learning has resumed: Schools in
Georgia, North Carolina and Indiana have had to shut down shortly after
starting the year because of positive cases.
Atlas
first came to the attention of the Trump administration the way it finds
so many top officials: through his appearances on Fox News. His
comments on the coronavirus lockdown and the need to reopen the economy
and schools caught the attention of the president and several top aides,
including Jared Kushner, according to a second senior administration
official.
