Fauci: DeSantis Saying There’s No Proof Mask Mandates Help ‘Doesn’t Necessarily Prove the Point That He’s Making’

On Tuesday’s “PBS NewsHour,” White House Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci responded to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) argument in response to new CDC guidelines on masking in schools that there isn’t evidence showing areas with mask mandates did any better than areas without them, by saying that DeSantis’ argument “doesn’t necessarily prove the point that he’s making. We do know that the science shows now that even people who are vaccinated and get a breakthrough infection can transmit.” And we want to keep schools open.

Host Judy Woodruff asked, “But we now see pushback from conservatives like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. He’s saying that this is not based on science. He says, and I’m quoting…’There’s no indication that areas with mask mandates have performed any better than areas without mask mandates.'”

Fauci responded, “Yeah, I mean, I just think that that doesn’t necessarily prove the point that he’s making. We do know that the science shows now that even people who are vaccinated and get a breakthrough infection can transmit. We want to keep the school — we’re saying the country does, the CDC makes the recommendations. The local school areas make the decision. And the recommendation of the CDC is that we want, above all things, to get the children back to school in person. We don’t want to go back to virtual. We don’t want to close the schools. We want, when the fall term comes, the children are in school. And in order to keep them safe in that setting, given the changing situation that has occurred, that’s why the recommendation to keep everybody masked when you’re dealing with school, even if you’re vaccinated.”

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