He decision of a federal judge in Florida to block the administration of Biden mask requirement activated planes and public transportation was “disruptive,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told CBS News on Thursday, saying the Biden administration was worried it would set a “dangerous precedent.”
“The CDC has the ability, through a large number of trained epidemiologists and scientists, to make projections and make recommendations. Much more than a judge with no experience in public health,” said Fauci, chief medical adviser. president, on CBS. Election News Head and Campaign Correspondent Robert Costa on “Red & Blue.”
The administration of Biden moved on Wednesday to appeal the decisionwhich occurred when the agency has been closely following an increase in COVID-19 cases driven by BA.2 subvariant of Omicron.
More than 9 out of 10 new infections in the current wave are from the BA.2 subvariant, the CDC estimated this week. Hospitalizations are also accelerating across the country, though far from the record increase seen during the winter wave.
Citing data from abroad and the Northeast, which has seen more cases of BA.2 so far, Fauci said the variant “does not appear to be associated with an increase in hospitalizations and serious illnesses.”
“It is clear to everyone that we are seeing infections increase. Whether or not this will lead to an increase in hospitalizations, we do not know. Hopefully not,” Fauci said.
Fauci said he had urged the president to follow the CDC’s recommendations, and so far the agency has continued to urge all travelers to wear masks. Fauci said he personally planned to wear a high-protection N95 mask whenever he wanted.
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But Fauci also acknowledged that Americans “should make their own individual choices” about the risks of skipping masks while traveling.
“There will be a lot of healthy 25-year-olds who will say, ‘No, as for me, I don’t like the discomfort of a mask,'” Fauci said.
Asked about President Biden, who recently said that masking while flying “depended on them,” White House Deputy Undersecretary of Press Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday that the president supported CDC guidelines. .
“So, as the CDC recommends, the president thinks you should mask it right now, especially when they learn more about BA.2,” Jean-Pierre said.
“Day to day”
Fauci told Costa he wasn’t sure if he would stay in charge for “a long time,” and said he was taking “things on a day-to-day basis.”
“I’ve always said we have to keep this under control. Obviously I’m 81, at the time of my career when I have to sit down at some point. But I would like to. Be when we have this under better control. And maybe we’re getting to that point right now. Maybe we’ll be closer to that now, “said Fauci, who also serves as longtime head of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infection. Diseases.
He and President Biden still have a “very, very good relationship,” said Fauci, who existed “long before he was president of the United States.”
Fauci also reflected on his sometimes “awkward” work under Biden’s predecessor, recalling “difficult times” when he had to publicly disagree with President Trump and his senior officials.
“I didn’t like that. I don’t like having to do it. I’m very respectful of the presidency. But I never said, ‘I want to get away from it,'” Fauci added.
Some Republicans on Capitol Hill have renewed their criticism of Fauci ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.
Ohio Republican Congressman Jim Jordan he tweeted that “Fauci lost. Freedom won.” North Carolina Republican Congresswoman Madison Cawthorn has repeatedly called for Fauci to be fired or imprisoned.
Fauci dismissed the gangs as “the most ridiculous,” and then lamented how the political divide had hampered the country’s pandemic response.
“When you have a common enemy of the virus, you have to unite all of them, fight this common enemy. And the degree of deep division in the country has really prevented it,” Fauci said.
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