Dr. Fauci Reveals The Unsettling Personal Cost Of The Pandemic

The nation's pandemic expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, loves to power walk. In spite of the stresses involved in his job, Dr. Fauci told InStyle back in July that he ensures exercise is "a significant part of my regimen. [My wife] Christine and I put in 3-1/2 miles of power walking every day. I used to say 'run,' but I don't run very much anymore because at the end of the run, various parts of my body hurt so much. Power walking is very enjoyable and relaxing, and we look forward to it."

But Fauci's daily routine has changed somewhat since the pandemic intensified, and since he began campaigning hard for people to use masks to keep the virus from spreading. He and his wife, Dr. Christine Grady, a bioethicist, are now accompanied by federal agents when they go on their daily walks, because there have been death threats against him. He told CBS in an eye-opening 60 Minutes interview, that it's sad that it's comes to this. "The very fact that a public health message to save lives triggers such venom and animosity to me that it results in real and credible threats to my life and my safety," Fauci said. "But it bothers me less than the hassling of my wife and my children."

The pandemic hasn't just unsettled Dr. Fauci and his family from a security standpoint, it has struck them in a personal way, too. During his conversation on 60 Minutes, Dr. Fauci's wife Dr. Grady revealed that their family, like the rest  of the world, has been struggling. "Yeah, it's been rough on ours in — in a way that I think is similar to many other families. We haven't been able to see our children very often. I can't see my mom very often... She's 96... And she got COVID. And she's in an assisted living facility. And — and so they understandably have very restricted visiting. And so all of those kinds of things are really have been hard for us just like they have been for many, many families," Dr. Grady said (via CBS).

Unfortunately, it may be a while before all of us start to feel normal again. Globally, The New York Times says there are now nearly 40 million positive cases, with the number of new cases rising fast. About 8.1 million of those cases are in the United States alone, and it's affected far more people than we even realize.