Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is expressing concern about the possibility of mass protests accelerating the spread of the coronavirus.
The top infectious disease expert appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Wednesday where he reflected on the nationwide protests taking place following the death of George Floyd.
While many protesters have been seen wearing masks, Fauci is expressing concern about the lack of “physical separation.”
“The issue of physical separation is important. Masks can help, but it’s masks plus physical separation, and when you get congregations like we saw with the demonstrations like we have said — myself and other health officials — that’s taking a risk,” Fauci said. “Unfortunately, what we’re seeing now is just an example of the kinds of things we were concerned about.”
See Fauci’s remarks below:
Dr. Anthony Fauci on concerns over the coronavirus spreading at protests and whether states and cities are reopening too fast: “You still have to practice a degree of caution.” @RobinRobertshttps://t.co/mE5YW08JHP pic.twitter.com/8dU2YUTFhB
— Good Morning America (@GMA) June 10, 2020
Now that the National Guard troops have been withdrawn from Washington, D.C., some have tested positive for coronavirus.
While Fauci admitted that the positive test results are not surprising, he does find it “disturbing.”
“The most important thing, unfortunately, the report of the National Guardsmen being infected is certainly disturbing,” Fauci said, adding, “But it’s not surprising.”
Fauci went on to discuss the reopening of the United States economy. In May, all 50 states entered some phase of reopening. However, Fauci is still stressing the importance of caution as people continue to attempt to return to some form of normality.
“When you open, that doesn’t mean that everything is okay and you can just do whatever you want,” Fauci said. “You still have to practice a degree of caution and carefully go through the process of trying to normalize.”
He added, “We know everyone wants to approach normality and get things back to normal, including the economy, but that doesn’t mean that all bets are off, and that’s the reason why we say be careful and do it prudently.”