Former White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci defended masking again on Saturday as COVID-19 cases rise in a late summer surge in the United States, urging citizens to listen to health officials.
Fauci said he is concerned people will not listen to recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as cases rise in cities such as Houston, Texas. The country saw a 19% increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations and an 18% increase in deaths in the last week, according to the CDC.
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“I am concerned that people will not abide by recommendations,” Fauci told CNN. “I would hope that if we get to the point that the volume of cases is such and organizations like the CDC recommends, CDC does not mandate anything, recommends that people wear masks, I would hope that people abide by that recommendation and take into account the risks to themselves and their families.”
The comments come after he played down the seriousness of the two new strains of the coronavirus, claiming there would not be a “tsunami” of new cases like the country saw during the pandemic. Fauci was the face of the federal response to the pandemic during former President Donald Trump’s and President Joe Biden’s administrations.
Fauci also commented on the effectiveness of masks, stating that masks as a whole are effective on an individual basis. The comment was in response to a study that came out earlier this year, questioning the effectiveness of masks.
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“When you’re talking about the effect on the pandemic as a whole, the data is less strong,” Fauci said. “But when you talk about an individual basis of someone protecting themselves … There’s no doubt that there’s many studies that show that there is an advantage.”
According to the CDC, there were 15,067 hospitalizations from the coronavirus from Aug. 13 to Aug. 19, 2023. Some businesses are requiring employees and guests to wear masks again as cases rise.
