Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, expressed concern for people attending mass protests across the country, touched off by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minnesota police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Fauci said that while he understands why people feel compelled to attend protests, spreading the contagious respiratory disease at such large-scale events poses a real threat.
“You know, it’s a danger to the people who are trying to control the demonstration,” he told ABC’s Jonathan Karl on the “Powerhouse Politics” podcast. “And it’s a danger to the people who are demonstrating. So at the end of the day, it is a risky procedure.”
When asked whether he extends that advice to Americans who want to attend one of Trump’s upcoming rallies, including next week’s planned rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Fauci said yes.
“I am consistent. I stick by what I say,” he said.
Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, reiterated guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on limiting the spread of COVID-19, adding that the safest practice is to “avoid crowded places, to wear a mask whenever you’re outside. And if you can do both, avoid the congregation of people and do the mask, that’s great.”
“When you start to chant and shout, even though the instinct is to pull the mask down, which you see, don’t do that because there is a risk there and it’s a real risk,” he said.
www.cdc.gov
