With George Floyd protests continuing and with President Donald Trump slated to hold his first rally since the coronavirus pandemic started next week, Dr. Anthony Fauci has some advice: Whicher side of the political spectrum you gravitate toward, and whichever event you attend, you’ve got to consider the coronavirus.
So wear a mask.
“You know, it’s a danger to the people who are trying to control the demonstration. And it’s a danger to the people who are demonstrating,” Fauci told ABC News regarding the protests. “So at the end of the day, it is a risky procedure.”
Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, was then asked if he had the same feelings about Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa next Friday. The president is eager to resume his packed and boisterous rallies after suspending them as the nation went into COVID-19 hibernation. For the rally at the 19,000-seat BOK Center, the first amid the coronavirus pandemic, organizers have asked that attendees sign waivers absolving the campaign of liability from virus-related issues, The Guardian reported.
None of that seemed to factor into Fauci’s reply, though: “I am consistent. I stick by what I say.”
Fauci added that the “best way that you can avoid — either acquiring or transmitting infection — is to avoid crowded places, to wear a mask whenever you’re outside. And if you can do both, avoid the congregation of people and do the mask, that’s great.
“If you’re going to be in a situation where, beyond your control there’s a lot of people around you, make sure you wear a mask.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted new guidelines Friday that “strongly encourage” people to wear cloth face coverings at large gatherings to help slow the spread of COVID-19, which has infected 2.1 million Americans as the U.S. death toll nears 120,000.
