Dr. Anthony Fauci he said on Monday that he was not sure when he would support the end of the requirements for Americans to use facial coverings, but said it was “conceivable” that he would support the reduction of some “public health measures” in late fall.
“Will there be a time when we won’t have masks?” Fox News’ Bret Baier asked Fauci in an evening interview. “When’s that time? If you had to guess – go to a sports game, go to the theater, go to a show without a mask? “
The head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases replied: “This will really depend on how we decrease the level of the virus in the community. If we can get – and I used that as an estimate, it’s not definitive – if we can vaccinate 70 to 85 percent of the population, and getting what we hope for would be a degree of herd immunity that really is an umbrella or a veil of protection … where the virus level is so low that it is not a threat, so at that point, you can start thinking in terms of not having to have a uniform wearing masks.
“But we are certainly not close yet,” he added. “When do I think this would happen? It is very difficult to predict, Bret, but if all goes well and we get it under control, it is conceivable that you will be able to step back a little in some of the public health measures when we get to the end of this year. But there is no guarantee of that. “
Fauci, who said infamously at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March that “there was no reason to walk around with a mask on,” began asking Americans to wear facial covers in subsequent months. In January, he advised Americans to start wearing two masks, telling NBC News in an interview: “If you have physical coverage with one layer, put on another layer, it makes sense that it is probably more effective. That’s the reason why you see people wearing double masks or making a version of an N95. “
However, some jurisdictions have begun to soften mask regulations, including Iowa, where the governor Kim Reynolds (R) this month eliminated the rules that required the use of masks, in addition to ending the limitation on the number of people who could gather in bars and restaurants.
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