Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, told CNN that the nation’s pandemic response would be better served if the White House allowed a transition with President-elect Joe Biden’s team to begin.

“Of course it would be better if we could start working with them,” Fauci said on CNN.

“It’s almost like passing the baton in a race,” Fauci added. “It certainly would make things more smoothly if we could do that.”

Some background: Fauci, a career civil servant, has been through five presidential transitions. He has been head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 when Ronald Reagan was president.

Fauci also praised Biden’s selection of Ron Klain as the incoming White House chief of staff, noting that he worked with Klain during the Obama administration when Klain was tasked with coordinating the Ebola virus response.

“It’s an excellent choice,” Fauci said.

“I worked very closely with Ron Klain during the Ebola outbreak,” he added. “He was absolutely terrific at the Ebola situation where we had a very successful ultimate endgame with Ebola.

CNN