Fauci: ‘It’s too early to declare victory’
While President Biden has announced that he will increase his deadline by two weeks for states to qualify all adults in the U.S. for coronavirus vaccinations, dr. Anthony Fauci warns that it is premature to declare victory. (April 6)
AP
The claim: dr. Anthony Fauci says he is not entirely sure why COVID-19 cases are declining in Texas after restrictions were lifted
On March 2, the Texas government, Greg Abbott, issued an executive order that would officially lift the requirement for Texans to wear masks in public and on March 10 authorize all businesses to operate at full capacity. As a reasoning, he pointed to the decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations that occurred in February, and the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines.
Health experts have warned that because less than 30% of Texans had antibodies from a previous infection or vaccine, the weakening of restrictions could increase the number of cases. Dr. James McDeavitt, dean of clinical affairs at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, told CBS Austin on March 3 that Texas could see an increase in cases within two to six weeks.
About three weeks after the executive order went into effect, Mediaite posted an article about comments made by dr. Anthony Fauci was interviewed on MSNBC.
The headline said: “Fauci says he is ‘not entirely sure’ why cases of covid in Texas are declining after restrictions were lifted.” Young Americans for Liberty, a libertarian political action group, posted a screenshot of the headline on its Facebook page on April 7 and received more than 2,200 responses. USA TODAY released the poster for comment.
Some commentators claim that masks and mask mandates are not effective in preventing COVID-19.
“Because locks and masks do not work !!!!! No proof,” one commenter wrote.
“Maybe because people are exposed to their natural immunity through exposure to science,” wrote another commentator.
One commenter even claims that lifting the mandate reduces the risk of infection: “After all, it has nothing to do with people not constantly inhaling the toxins that their body is trying to expel,” he wrote.
USA TODAY reported earlier that the CDC has found that mask mandates have reduced COVID-19 cases and that masks and vaccines are slowing the spread of the disease.
Fauci’s remark, in context
Mediaite’s April 6 article covered an interview with Fauci about MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”.
In the interview, Fauci said he was “not sure” why COVID-19 cases in Texas were deteriorating because there could be several factors.
“There are a lot of things that are decreasing,” he said. If you say they had a lot of activities … outside, like ball games, I’m not really sure, it could be that they’re doing things outside. “See the long distance. I hope they keep typing. If they do, it’s going to be great.”
The Facebook post could be seen as the implication of a causal link between the closure of Texas and the decline in COVID-19 cases.
In the interview, Fauci said that three weeks is too early to know the outcome of Abbott’s executive order.
‘Yes, you know, it can be confusing. “Maybe you see a delay and delay, because often you have to wait a few weeks before you see the effect of what you are doing now,” Fauci said. We have been deceived before by situations where people start opening up, nothing happens, and suddenly, a few weeks later, things (hospitalizations, case numbers, etc.) start exploding on you. We must therefore be careful not to judge it prematurely. ‘
Our rating: Missing context
We view this claim as a DISSOLUTIONAL CONTEXT, as it may be misleading without additional information. Fauci said he was not sure why COVID-19 cases were declining in Texas, despite the removal of precautionary measures from the state, but added that it was still too early to know the results of the executive order, and because many factors can contribute to the number of cases outside the country. of state policy on mask wear.
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