‘there was no mention of those negative tests – only that Fair had survived his battle with coronavirus…’
(Michael Barnes, Liberty Headlines) Dr. Joseph Fair is a hero and we should all be listening to his expert medical advice and patterning our lives after him.
That’s how NBC News has framed Fair, the network’s new Wuhan virus “outbreak responder.”
In his efforts to educate viewers about the deadly virus, Fair tragically contracted the disease.
“If that virus can strike a guy like Dr. Fair, it can strike anyone,” said Craig Melvin, co-host of NBC’s “Today Show.”
But did he really contract the coronavirus?
Steve Krakauer — formerly of NBC, CNN, Mediaite and The Blaze — is calling it “fake news.”
“There was something odd, though – that was brought up in the initial report but has been slowly removed from the reporting on this story that NBC News has done: Dr. Fair has been tested between five and seven times for coronavirus, and has never tested positive,” Krakauer explained in a newsletter called Fourth Watch.
Krakauer combed through Fair’s various news reports and found numerous inconsistencies.
The tale begins when Fair claims to have contracted the Wuhan virus while on a plane to New Orleans around the time the city was engulfed with infections due to the mayor’s incompetent Mardi Gras response.
Fair, being a vaunted medical professional, said he took proper precautions and wore a mask and gloves. He thought that the infection must have come through his eyes.
Krakauer asked a qualified doctor, who said it was unlikely that Fair contracted the virus through his eyes.
“Unless he was sitting next to someone coughing or sneezing on him, the likelihood is extremely low,” the physician said.
Fair issued several correspondent reports, including from a hospital bed, recounting symptom after symptom and at one point saying it was “the worst I’d ever felt.”
But at no point did he ever test positive.
Fair blamed repeated negative tests on “false negatives,” and proceeded to take different tests from different manufacturers. Each time the results undermined his self-diagnosis.
Krakauer said he interviewed a medical expert about Fair’s testing claims. The expert agreed that false negatives can occur, but “it still would be highly unlikely for the same person to have 5-7 false negatives in a row.”
In a subsequent report, Fair claimed vindication due to a “borderline positive” test, which is still a negative result.
He now claims to have shed the coronavirus before the various tests could confirm his infection, even though “viral shedding” occurs at a median of 17 days, not Fair’s stated 8 days, according to Krakauer.
Even so, Fair continues to promote his harrowing coronavirus experience across multiple NBC News properties.
“Although NBC mentioned the lack of positive coronavirus tests in their reports May 13 and 14, by May 18 on MSNBC, and “Meet the Press” last Sunday, there was no mention of those negative tests – only that Fair had survived his battle with coronavirus,” Krakauer reported.