WASHINGTON — As COVID-19 cases skyrocketed before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus response warned Americans to “be vigilant” and to limit celebrations to “your immediate household.”
For many Americans that guidance has been difficult to abide, including for Dr. Deborah Birx herself.
The day after Thanksgiving, Birx traveled to one of her vacation properties on Fenwick Island in Delaware. She was accompanied by three generations of her family from two households.
Kathleen Flynn, whose brother is married to Birx's daughter, told the Associated Press she came forward about the travel out of concern for her own parents, and acknowledged there was family friction over the incident.
Birx confirmed to the Associated Press she traveled to the Delaware property, but declined to be interviewed for the report.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked Americans not to travel over the holidays and discourages indoor activity involving members of different households.
Birx joins a growing list of high-profile leaders on the federal and state level who have been criticized for appearing to disregard their own rules and warnings for slowing the spread of the coronavirus.
Most notably, California Governor Gavin Newsom, who is facing a recall effort in his state after he was seen inside a posh restaurant after telling people to avoid socializing.