Anthony Fauci ‘concerned’ people won’t comply if masking recommendations return: 'I hope' they 'abide'
FILE-Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks about the coronavirus during the White House press briefing on Tuesday, November 22, 2022.
Dr. Ashish Jha, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator In a Saturday interview, former White House chief medical adviser Dr.
Anthony Fauci spoke out in defense of masking up amid today's rising COVID cases. In the event that masks are again recommended, he is "concerned that people will not abide by recommendations," he said in the interview. "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," Fauci told CNN. CITING RISING COVID CASES, THESE US HOSPITAL SYSTEMS HAVE NOW REINSTATED MASK MANDATES 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, also called into question a January 2023 Cochrane study that found masking to be ineffective. "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 [to masks]." Merle Hombrebueno, left, and Gerlie Pelagio, right, are wearing a face mask in Union Station on Thursday, Aug.
31, 2023, in Los Angeles, CA. COVID-19 making a comeback in California. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) The Cochrane study, led by
United States
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Cases: 46 252 513
Deaths: 750 423
Recovered: 0
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India
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Cases: 34 321 025
Deaths: 459 652
Recovered: 0
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Brazil
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Cases: 21 835 785
Deaths: 608 235
Recovered: 0
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United Kingdom
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Cases: 9 215 683
Deaths: 141 607
Recovered: 0
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Russia
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Cases: 8 494 589
Deaths: 237 619
Recovered: 0
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