For many months now, Dr. Anthony Fauci has advocated that people remain masked outdoors to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Image: AP Photo / Alex Brandon
“When you are indoors, make sure you have a mask. When you’re outdoors, keep the mask on,” he said back in August, though he acknowledged that being outdoors was significantly safer than being indoors.
Now, Fauci is saying that he believes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will provide updated guidance on wearing face masks outdoors, and says it’s “common sense” to reconsider the guidance.
I call it science, but I’ll take it.
Fauci also concedes that the risk of contracting COVID-19 while engaged in outdoor activities is “miniscule.”
“What I believe you’re going to be hearing, what the country is going to be hearing soon, is updated guidelines from the CDC,” Fauci said on ABC’s This Week.
“The CDC is a science-based organization. They don’t want to make any guidelines unless they look at the data and the data backs it up.”
“But when you look around at the common sense situation, the risk is really low, especially if you’re vaccinated,” he added.
You think? Why did it take so long to figure this out?
Dr. Fauci’s credibility has taken some severe hits, particularly in recent weeks.
When Texas Governor Greg Abbott axed the state’s mask mandate and other COVID-related restrictions on businesses and people, Dr. Anthony Fauci called it “risky” and “potentially dangerous.” But no surge happened.
Earlier this month Fauci struggled to explain how Texas defied his own predictions during an appearance on MSNBC, arguing at the time that there might be a “lag.”
Three weeks later, there’s still no surge in cases in Texas.
Fauci also defended the “pause” in the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, even though you’re more likely to die from general anesthesia than you are to get severe blood clots from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
