Egon von Greyerz: No Going Back To “Normal”
Gold Switzerland, Released on 11/20/20 (Recorded on 11/19/20)
Egon von Greyerz and Matthew Piepenburg discuss the current and popular topic of an eventual “return to normal” once COVID conditions are eventually behind us, ideally upon the attainment of an effective vaccine/treatment protocol. The irony, of course, is that there was nothing at all “normal” about financial conditions and desperate monetary policies pre-COVID, and certainly nothing “normal” in these same areas coming through and (out of) COVID going forward, as Matthew’s data points remind us.
Egon, in turn, discusses the signals emanating from the gold and silver markets throughout this COVID arc, which has seen a continued and steady tailwind for precious metals in the backdrop of the entirely abnormal yet ongoing currency devaluation policies of the major central banks. Despite expected pullbacks in price action, the clear trend is positive for precious metals, which sophisticated investors hold primarily for wealth preservation purposes.
Egon von Greyerz
Matthew McConaughey: (01:12)
First off, this is not a political conversation for me. I’m not here to take a side on any half of the political aisle. I am here to ask Dr. Fauci questions, many of which I’ve written down, hopefully to get some scientific answers from you, the top infectious disease expert in America. A man who is also the lead member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force Addressing COVID-19. My hope is to leave this meeting with a more defined roadmap for all of us going forward, a roadmap of where and how we Americans should collectively march onward and forward in this COVID crisis. That’s my goal, to get some science and some certainty, because I, like many of you out there, I’m still kind of confused about a lot of stuff. So Dr. Anthony Fauci, thanks for your time.
Dr. Anthony Fauci: (01:57)
Good to be with you. Let’s do it.
Matthew McConaughey: (01:59)
All right, so to start off I figured we’d do some true and false questions, sort of myth busters, fast finders. This will be a quicker round. We can go through these. If we get through these, have some more time, I’ve got some longer questions I have. But to start off, let’s just clear it up, how the virus is transmitted, and can you get it from surfaces or only via air?
Dr. Anthony Fauci: (02:21)
It’s transmitted predominantly by the respiratory route. Droplets are aerosolized from one person to another. It is conceivable, but very unlikely, that you can get it from fomites. Fomites means inanimate objects; doorknobs, computer, whatever.
Matthew McConaughey: (02:39)
Surfaces.
Dr. Anthony Fauci: (02:40)
It can occur, but it is the very minor component of transmission. Overwhelmingly, it’s person to person through the respiratory group.
Matthew McConaughey: (02:49)
Got it. So that original theory of, “Hey, it lives on surfaces for 72 hours.” That was just a number and that was just a number that was thrown out there?
Dr. Anthony Fauci: (02:57)
No, it can. Actually, what investigators have done is that they’ve gone and shown that you can get it off surfaces, off cloth for 72 hours. What hasn’t been shown is that it is an inoculum that’s large enough to actually transmit. So it is absolutely true that you can isolate it from doorknobs, steel, chrome, or what have you, for up to 72 hours. But we don’t think that that is a major modality of transmission.
Matthew McConaughey: (03:28)
Got it. Second one. So it is a respiratory virus and that’s how it’s majorly being a spread. So we know that. That’s a fact. Why not make a mask mandate across the United States and fine people for not wearing masks if that’s how you get it?
Dr. Anthony Fauci: (03:48)
Well, yeah. You make a really good point. That is the subject of a lot of debate. And the reason is that, first of all, my recommendation, as you probably know, because I’ve said it publicly so many times, is that absolutely we should have universal wearing of masks. The difficulty with mandates is that there tends to be a pushback about do you have to waste time enforcing it? Or can you really use the power of persuasion from the leadership, everybody doing it, because it’s so important? And there’s a debate whether you get any extra mileage out of mandating it. For myself, personally, I would say everybody should have to use it.
Matthew McConaughey: (04:28)
Okay. Next one. Is it true that type A blood is more likely to get sick than the type O, or less?
Dr. Anthony Fauci: (04:35)
The answer is yes, Matthew. But it’s such a slight difference that it isn’t something where people with type A need to start worrying a lot. The difference between one blood type of the other is significant, but minuscule.
Matthew McConaughey: (04:49)
Okay. Does Advil make the virus worse?
Dr. Anthony Fauci: (04:53)
Does what?
Matthew McConaughey: (04:54)
Advil make the virus worse?
Dr. Anthony Fauci: (04:57)
No, it doesn’t.
Matthew McConaughey: (04:59)
No? [crosstalk 00:05: 00].
Dr. Anthony Fauci: (05:01)
It’s a bad enough virus to begin with.
Matthew McConaughey: (05:03)
Okay. It doesn’t need Advil’s help. Okay.
Dr. Anthony Fauci: (05:06)
Right, right.
Matthew McConaughey: (05:06)
If you have the antibodies and you already had COVID, can you get it twice? And if so, how would a vaccine be effective to that person, that individual?
Dr. Anthony Fauci: (05:16)
Yeah. Good question. If you have antibodies that are neutralizing, it will block the virus. What we don’t know is how long after you recover from infection those antibodies last and whether or not you have antibodies that are very powerful, because some antibodies, they’re antibodies to the virus, but they’re not very protective. The ones that are really protective are called neutralizing antibodies. Related to your question about the virus, the vaccine, when you vaccinate somebody, we’ve shown in the early studies, which are now being much more enlarged, that when you vaccinate somebody with the vaccines that are being used now, that are in clinical trial, you reduce a level of antibody that’s equivalent to, if not greater than, what you get with natural infection. Which is a strong predictive that for at least a finite period of time, you will be protected. What we don’t know, because we’ve only been doing this for six months, is how long that protection lasts.
Matthew McConaughey: (06:17)
Right. Okay. Helpful. What are the possible longterm effects of this virus that nobody’s really talking about right now?
Dr. Anthony Fauci: (06:26)
That is a really good question. And the thing that we need to know when you’re dealing with an evolving outbreak is that we’ve got to be humble and flexible in realizing that this is a work in progress. We’re learning more and more about it. Weeks go by. But to your specific question, we’re starting to see more and more people who apparently recover from the actual viral part of it and then weeks later they feel weak, they feel tired, they feel sluggish, they feel short of breath. It’s a chronic projection forward of symptoms, even though the virus is gone. And we think that’s probably an immunological effect. It’s very disturbing because if this is true for a lot of people, then just recovering from this may not be okay. You may have weeks where you feel not exactly correct.
Matthew McConaughey: (07:19)
Right. Inhaled generic budesonide protects from secondary bacterial infection and the use of zinc does interfere with the virus replication of code.
Dr. Anthony Fauci: (07:36)
All of that in vitro can work, but there is no evidence now that what you mentioned has any clinical effect. The thing that happens a lot which confuses people, you get viruses, you put them in a plate or in a culture and you throw all kinds of things in there. And many compounds suppress the replication. But when you get to a clinical trial and you give it to people with the disease, more often than not, those things don’t have any beneficial effect. Some do, because if something is going to work in vivo, it likely will work in a test tube. But there are many more things that work in the test tube that don’t work in the body.
Matthew McConaughey: (08:19)
Okay. Is there any downside to… There are people that believe that budesonide and taking zinc is working, is there any downside to doing it?
Dr. Anthony Fauci: (08:32)
You know, there’s a placebo effect to make you feel better and less anxious, but in reality, Matthew, it doesn’t have any effect. Right?
Matthew McConaughey: (08:40)
Okay. Here you go. We Americans who flock to beaches, bars and rallies are putting our fellow citizens at risk, especially elders? True or false?
Dr. Anthony Fauci: (08:51)
Right. That is true.
Matthew McConaughey: (08:53)
True.
Dr. Anthony Fauci: (08:54)
That’s totally true.
Matthew McConaughey: (08:55)
Yes. Okay.
Dr. Anthony Fauci: (08:56)
And that’s one of the messages we have to keep getting across, because most of the people who do that are young, healthy, and if they wind up getting infected, it’s unlikely that they’re going to get seriously ill. So there’s this misperception that says, “Hey, if I get infected, I’m in a vacuum. I’m not hurting anybody. Let me worry about myself.” That’s completely incorrect.
Matthew McConaughey: (09:20)
[crosstalk 00:09:20] What happens when they go home to grandma?
Dr. Anthony Fauci: (09:21)
Yeah, exactly. Or grandpa or someone’s wife who’s on chemotherapy for breast cancer or an immunodeficient child.
Matthew McConaughey: (09:30)
Or immunodeficient child. Good. Thank you for that. Just clear this up, and it’s on this subject, how, if you’re asymptomatic, can you spread it? Like you said, a lot of people are asymptomatic. A lot of these youth that are out there. How can you spread it? Just let’s remind us again.
Dr. Anthony Fauci: (09:47)
Another really good question, Matthew, because when you look at the level of virus in the nasal pharynx of someone who’s symptomatic versus without symptoms, the level is exactly the same. So you can make the assumption that even though you’re without symptoms, you can spread it. And as a matter of fact, we know from pretty good studies that asymptomatic people can drive the transmission of this virus.
Matthew McConaughey: (10:15)
Can drive the… Yes. Okay. True or false, sunlight kills the virus.
Dr. Anthony Fauci: (10:24)
It does. That’s a truism. That’s one of the reasons why outside in the sun, when you are interacting, that that is much, much better than being inside.
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