Outgoing National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday on FNC’s “Your World” that he was not responsible for the COVID shutdowns.
Host Neil Cavuto said, “You had said a number of times, doctor, on this show as well, that your response to COVID might not have been perfect, but it was in the times and the fast moments in which you lived and were making those decisions. So, looking back at some of those decisions, including masks – you were first opposed to them and then embraced them – the severity of the epidemic itself and completely shutting down virtually an entire American economy. Do you regret the shutdown, the sweeping shutdown that some said made things worse?”
Fauci said, “No, I don’t, Neil. And in fact, I think we need to make sure that your listeners understand, I didn’t shut down anything. There was a lot of consideration among the White House task force that we were reaching a point where the hospitals such as in New York City and other places were being strained to the point of practically being overwhelmed. And when Dr. Birx and I came with the proposal that we take 15 days to essentially get to the point where we slow, if not shut some things down, not completely. The record will show that we didn’t shut things down. We wanted to cause a pause, if you’ll remember the terminology, to flatten the curve.”
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