Controversial coronavirus tsar accused of playing down pandemic says 'no reason to panic' over Trump diagnosis

Dr Atlas has no background in infectious diseases and has been criticised by health professionals for offering incorrect guidance and downplaying the severity of the pandemic

Dr Scott Atlas, a special adviser to Donald Trump on coronavirus, told Fox News on Friday that he expects the president to recover in full from his coronavirus infection and urged viewers not to panic.  

“It is no surprise that people get the infection, even with precautions,” Dr Atlas said. “I anticipate a complete and full and rapid recovery back to normal after his necessary confinement period. I anticipate he’ll be back on the road and in full swing.”

Dr Atlas is not the president's personal doctor.  

The doctor, who works for Mr Trump, claimed that the 74-year-old was a "super vigorous man" and claimed he has "never seen anyone with more energy and more vigor, at any age, but particularly at his age."  

“He is a very, very healthy guy,” Dr Atlas said. “And the overwhelming majority of people, even at his age, do fine with this. He is very healthy, and so I anticipate the same for him.”

The doctor said Ms Trump is not in a high-risk category and anticipates she will "do perfectly well."  

“There is zero reason to panic,” Dr Atlas said. “There is nothing different here. The president and his wife are human beings.”

Dr Atlas is a radiologist and has no background in infectious diseases, but has become a close adviser to the president after offering advice that included downplaying the efficacy of masks and an argument that shutdowns were not helpful in stopping the virus, despite the fact that it is spread from person to person.  

Shortly after making the claims, Fox News reporter Chris Wallace tore into Dr Atlas for giving the guidance despite lacking the medical expertise to do so.  

“I’m going to say something. And folks, I’m just trying to give you the truth,” Mr Wallace said. “Dr. Scott Atlas is not an epidemiologist, is not an infectious disease specialist. He has no training in this area at all. There are a number of top people on the president’s coronavirus task force who have had grave concerns about Scott Atlas and his scientific bona fides.”

Mr Wallace claimed it was too soon after the president's diagnosis for doctors to make judgements on Mr Trump's recovery and recommended viewers listen to medical experts with expertise in infectious diseases.  

“I hope everything he says is true,” Mr Wallace said of Atlas. “One, he can’t know because the president is just in the earliest stages of this. And two, I understand the desire of the White House and its political people to try to talk this down. I’m not certainly trying to talk it up, and I hope and pray the president is fine. But again, follow the scientists. Listen to people like Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx — who have been largely cut off. Listen to the independent people who do not have a political axe to grind. And I, frankly, don’t think Scott Atlas is one of those people.”

Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the head of the US coronavirus task force, said he believed that sometimes Dr Atlas offers inaccurate advice.  

“Well, yeah, I’m concerned that sometimes things are said that are really taken either out of context or are actually incorrect,” Dr Fauci said.  

In the past, Dr Atlas has argued in favor of young people intentionally contracting the virus to help reach "herd immunity," which many public health experts warn is an uncertain solution to the virus at best, and would require an enormous number of Americans to contract the virus before becoming a viable strategy.  

Dr Atlas' former colleagues at Stanford medical school issued a letter expressing their concern that Dr Atlas was in a position of power and influence.  

“Many of his opinions and statements run counter to established science, and, by doing so, undermine public-health authorities and the credible science that guides effective public health policy,” the letter said.

Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was overheard by an employee of NBC News to have said "everything he says is false" with regard to Dr Atlas' guidance. 

The CDC claimed in a statement after the call was reported on that "NBC News is reporting one side of  a private phone conversation" but did not outright deny the claim that Mr Redfield was talking about Dr Atlas.