National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” that it is “risky” for states and schools to pull back mask mandates because COVID might not be done with the United States.
Fauci said, “Right now, 97% of the country is within that zone that the CDC recommends to keep the masks on, and it is risky if you take it often right now.”
Guest anchor John Berman said, “It’s great the cases are going down, phenomenal, I’m thrilled, I guess my question is are you concerned that taking off masks in schools will cause that number to go back up again?”
Fauci said, “Well, I have said it before, John, and there’s no reason for me to change that now. It is risky. It is risky. You may get away with it very well, it’s possible you’ll get away with it, but you do have a risk when you pull back if you have a certain dynamic of infection that you’ll have a rebound. Hopefully, the states that are doing that have a plan. If, in fact, we do see a rebound up, they’ll be able to reinstitute the mitigation methods they’re now pulling back on. You know, when you want to pull back and say we’re done, well, you know, the virus may not be done with us.”
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