Fauci thought Pottinger was talking as if the sky was falling and way overstating the case against China. “We got to be more aggressive in trying to control it,” Pottinger told Fauci, “because countries like Singapore and Taiwan have been able to control it by being very aggressive in shutting things down.” Hong Kong had done the same. When the pandemic later exploded, Fauci said, “Wait a minute. Matt was right all along. This thing is really out of control.”
