Texas reported a record-breaking daily increase in cases of the novel coronavirus on Tuesday, with 6,975 new infections identified, which may or may not be the ideal moment to eschew the advice of the government’s top infectious disease expert. However, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a former talk radio host, had no qualms, saying that he will not listen to the advice of Dr Anthony Fauci after the health expert warned Congress on Tuesday that the rate of new infections could more than double to 100,000 a day if current outbreaks in the South and West are not contained. Patrick, who has said he would sacrifice his life for the economy, told Fox News: “Locking down doesn’t work! If it did, those two states [California and New York] would be doing better than Texas. Fauci said today that he’s concerned about states like Texas that skipped over certain things. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about! We haven’t skipped over anything. The only thing I’m skipping over is listening to him. … He has been wrong every time on every issue. I don’t need his advice anymore.”
