Fauci Advocates Mask Usage Amid Rising Covid-19 Cases

Dr. Anthony Fauci, former White House chief medical adviser and renowned immunologist, has voiced his support for the continued use of masks as COVID-19 cases surge in some areas. Expressing concerns about potential resistance to mask recommendations, Fauci emphasized the importance of adhering to public health guidance. "If we get to the point that the volume of cases is such and organizations like the CDC recommend – 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," Fauci stated during the interview with CNN. Fauci, who also served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health until December 2022, raised questions about a Cochrane study from January 2023 that concluded masking might be ineffective in certain contexts. "When you're talking about the effect on the pandemic as a whole, the data is less strong," Fauci commented. "But when you talk about an individual basis of someone protecting themselves, there's no doubt that there are many studies that show that there is an advantage [to wearing masks]." The Cochrane study, conducted by a group of 12 researchers from reputable universities worldwide, compared the use of medical/surgical masks to not wearing masks. The review's findings suggested that "wearing a mask may make little to no difference in how many people caught a flu-like illness/COVID-like illness (nine studies; 276,917 people); and probably makes little to no difference in how many people have flu/COVID confirmed by a laboratory test (six studies; 13,919 people)."