@antinn Why weren't they followed verbatim?
In America, in times of a national crisis/emergency, like it or not, regardless of advisers, the responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of the POTUS/Commander-In-Chief; such is the old adage "The buck stops here".
Technically thats correct in so far as the CDC falls under the jurisdiction of the Executive Branch of Government. However there are two other branches of governance in the US that materially affect the pandemic response - Congress writes the law and authorises funding for the executive branch, and the Judiciary whom interpret the law crafted by congress with the overarching requirement of protecting the constitution.
And then of course there is the "4th branch" the media, who are supposed to hold whomever is in power to account, and have special rights under the constituion, I believe, have so politicised the pandemic
that over 80% of the population have no trust in the media.
I dont think any administration has covered pandemics fully, when Obama left office the cupboards were empty in terms of medical supplies - ventilators etc.
And finally POTUS can ony make decisions based on information available and the advice they are given. If Fauci saw no threat to the US as late as March 2020, and he was part of the advisory team, then how can you expect POTUS to have seen the threat in January 2020.
The medical experts explain Fauci's wildly shifting positions as "evolving" due to new information. Why cannot POTUS be afforded the same grace.