Dr. Anthony Fauci repeated his guidance that masks should be worn to combat the spread of coronavirus as he explained that the public was initially only advised not to wear them because of fears over shortages for medical staff.
Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said that while masks are not 100 percent effective against the spread of coronavirus, they do give some protection.
In an interview with The Street, he added that air conditioning is still an unknown in how coronavirus may spread and that he remains ‘optimistic’ about the vaccines currently being trialed.
Dr Fauci also said that while he would like to see sports seasons return, it is still best to stay out of crowds and to physically distance from one another, even if masks are worn.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, has explained that the public were only told that masks were not needed at the start of the coronavirus pandemic as there was a fear that there would be a shortage in supplies to healthcare workers
Dr. Fauci explained that the guidance was issues to ensure that medical workers, like those pictured above in a Kansas hospital in May, had access to the masks they needed
‘Masks are not 100% protective,’ he explained to The Street.
‘However, they certainly are better than not wearing a mask. Both to prevent you, if you happen to be a person who may feel well but has an asymptomatic infection that you don’t even know about, to prevent you from infecting someone else.
‘But also, it can protect you a certain degree, not a hundred percent, in protecting you from getting infected from someone who, either is breathing, or coughing, or sneezing, or singing or whatever it is in which the droplets or the aerosols go out.’ he added.
‘So, masks work.’
When asked why the public was initially told not to wear masks, Dr Fauci explained that it was all down to concerns about supply and the need to ensure masks were available for healthcare staff first.
‘We were concerned the public health community, and many people were saying this, were concerned that it was at a time when personal protective equipment, including the N95 masks and the surgical masks, were in very short supply,’ Dr. Fauci said.
‘And we wanted to make sure that the people namely, the health care workers, who were brave enough to put themselves in a harm way, to take care of people who you know were infected with the coronavirus and the danger of them getting infected.
‘We did not want them to be without the equipment that they needed so there was non-enthusiasm about going out and everyone buying a mask we were afraid that that would deter away from the people who really needed it,’ he added.
‘Now we have masks, we know that you don’t need an N95 if you’re an ordinary person in the street. We also know that simple cloth coverings that many people have can work as well as a mask in many cases. So right now, unequivocally, the recommendation is when you’re out there, particularly if you’re in a situation where there’s an active infection, keep the distance physically and wear a mask.
‘So, although there appear to be some contradiction of “you were saying this then and why are you saying this now”, actually the circumstances have changed, that’s the reason why.’
Dr. Anthony Fauci spoke to The Street about the importance of masks and social distancing
Dr. Fauci, pictured, has said A/C is as yet an ‘unknown’ in the spread of coronavirus
While Dr. Fauci said masks are important, he advised that social distancing is the best way to combat the spread of coronavirus but that faces should be used when that is not possible.
‘The important thing is actually physical separation so physical separation that we talk about all the time is the best way to get a virus not to get to you but often it’s impossible physically, logistically, to be separated to the right extent from everyone and that’s the reason why we combine physical separation with a mask,’ he said.
‘Even though a mask is not 100 percent protective, it does give you some protection so you shouldn’t discount that.’
Dr. Fauci was also asked about the spikes being seen in new coronavirus cases in some states and whether air conditioning would cause greater spread.
He said that air conditioning is still an ‘unknown’ in this situation as health experts look to learn more about the virus.
‘That’s difficult to say,’ Dr. Fauci answered.
‘There have been speculations, some studies that have tried to determine what the air flow back and forth would be if there were droplets or aerosols in the air. I don’t think there really is enough definitive data to tell you one way or the other what the risk is, what the relative risk is of having an air conditioner on or off.
‘I think it would be maybe taking a step beyond the data if you make any policy changes about the role or lack thereof of air conditioning. It’s one of those really unknowns.’
Dr. Fauci also believes that no general decision can be made about sports leagues returning in the U.S. as the country can not be taken as a whole when weighing up the risks.
‘The issue is that the United States is a very large country,’ he said.
And it’s a heterogeneous country. It is not uni-dimensional. So, it’s difficult to make statements about the United States as a whole.
‘Right now, there are several areas where there are upticks in infection. We’ve seen that places like California, places like Arizona, places like North Carolina, and others. And there are more than those states that are doing that. You have to be extra special careful.’
He added that if these upticks on new cases begin, states have to be careful about how they respond
‘The critical issue is how you respond to [case increases]. If you can’t respond to them adequately, and little upticks then become major outbreaks, then you have a real problem. So those are the kinds of things,’ Dr. Fauci continued.
‘First of all, you got to be careful and prudent in how you open up. And when you do, you’ve got to be able to respond to what will be the inevitable upticks that we will see.’
Yet he remained cautiously ‘optimistic’ about the vaccine trials that are underway, stating that the next trial is a ‘large trial’ and it will help to ‘determine efficacy’.
‘And hopefully, after a few months, once we get into the fall and then the winter, we’ll have an answer on whether or not the vaccine does or doesn’t work,’ Dr. Fauci told TheStreet.
‘Obviously, it’s good news when you can move things along. One of the things that I believe we need to stress, particularly to the general public, that when we’re moving along quickly, we’re not doing it at all, at the expense of safety,’ he added.
‘That’s always a major concern. Nor is it at the expense of scientific integrity. It’s just that people are doing things, what we call, at risk. They’re making steps. The risk is to the financial investment. The risk is not to the safety or to the scientific integrity of the study.’