Emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by BuzzFeed News and made available online show an exchange between Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in early 2020.

Emanuel is an oncologist and bioethicist who serves as vice provost for global initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania, a position he held at the time of his emails to Fauci. In November 2020, he was appointed to Biden’s COVID-19 Advisory Board, which was set up as part of the presidential transition.

Emanuel had emailed Fauci on February 25, 2020, and the two exchanged messages over the following months.

Emanuel asked the infectious diseases specialist: “What is your latest update and assessment on coronavirus? I still am having a hard time seeing this as serious as everyone else.

“Am I blind? Yes very transmissible but low mortality like flu in many ways—the elderly, those with comorbidities, and total impact is likely to be less than flu.

“Am I missing something big or small?”

Fauci replied to Emanuel later that day, writing: “The virus has adapted itself very well to humans with considerable community transmission (certainly in China) now in other countries such as South Korea, Japan, Iran, Italy, etc.”

He added: “If it continues to spread via multiple generations of human to human transmission, then we will not be able to avoid considerable amounts of infections and spread in the USA. Seasonal influenza has a mortality of 0.1%.

“The calculated mortality of COVID-19 to about 2.5%. It is probably lower since the denominator is likely larger than we appreciate due to asymptomatic infections. Even if the mortality goes down to 0.5%, that is still equivalent to a pandemic influenza of 1957 or 1968.”

Fauci concluded: “In other words, it could be worse than you think.”

COVID mortality in the U.S. currently stands at 1.8 percent, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The pair exchanged further emails in April concerning remarks Fauci had made about the antiviral drug remdesivir as a treatment for COVID and, despite a terse exchange, the conversation appears to have ended on a cordial note.

A spokesperson for Emanuel’s office sent Newsweek a statement on June 4.

“Dr. Emanuel’s email to Dr. Fauci in February 2020 was very early in the pandemic when limited data was available and most people did not yet realize the severity of the situation,” the statement said.

“Since then, we’ve all learned more and Dr. Emanuel’s advice has followed the evidence, providing much needed guidance to help policymakers make decisions that save lives. He has worked tirelessly to share his perspectives on the latest evidence regarding Covid-19 through countless academic publications, op-eds, and media appearances.”

Emanuel was one of 16 people named to Biden’s COVID-19 Advisory Board in November 2020. The members were appointed over the course of the month, with Emanuel joining on November 9. It is not known whether the Biden transition team knew about his earlier views on COVID.

The advisory board was dissolved after Biden’s inauguration on January 20 and replaced with the White House COVID-19 Response Team. Emanuel was not given a post in the new organization. The board’s three co-chairs—David Kessler, Vivek Murthy and Marcella Nunez-Smith—were given jobs in the Biden administration.

Emanuel had worked in the Obama administration as a health policy adviser to Peter Orszag, who was then director of the Office of Management and Budget. He is also the older brother of Rahm Emanuel, who was President Barack Obama’s chief of staff from 2009 to 2010 and mayor of Chicago from 2011 to 2019.

UPDATE 6/5/21 7.55 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include a statement from Ezekiel Emanuel’s office.

Newsweek has asked the White House for comment.

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