Top government infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said Friday that it was “frustrating” that the public was ignoring health guidelines to prevent further coronavirus spread.
“Clearly, we have not succeeded in getting the public as a whole, uniformly to respond in a way that is a sound scientific [response to a] public health and medical situation,” Fauci told CBS News Radio’s Steven Portnoy Friday.
He added: “I mean, it is clear because right now, you’re seeing people throughout the country [contracting the virus]. And it’s unfortunate. And it’s frustrating.”
Fauci said the recent spate of new infections in states that had been relatively spared by the pandemic, such as Arizona and Texas, was a result of people resisting social distancing directions and gathering in larger crowds without wearing protective masks.
“It’s a combination of leadership on the one hand, but even sometimes, when the leadership calls out for people to obey certain types of guidelines, they don’t do it,” Fauci said. “And that’s the reason why we’re seeing the burst of infections that we’re seeing right now in our country.”
State leaders, however, are not entirely at fault for neglecting to enforce the health guidelines. In many states and cities, he said, leaders are providing people with the right guidance, but individuals either ignore them or “don’t believe it.”
Fauci repeated a point he made in a Wednesday interview that many people “mistrust” science and authority, which may be contributing to the inconsistent public response to guidance from health experts.
States are reopening and restarting commerce, allowing people to come out of isolation. President Trump said he would resume campaigning this month, planning his first rally since March in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday. The gathering in an arena, however, runs in opposition to advice from health experts in Trump’s own administration.
“The best way to protect yourself and to prevent acquisition of and spread of infection is to avoid crowds. Avoid crowds,” Fauci said. “So when you see situations, when people are not doing — that they are in crowds and or they’re not wearing masks when they’re outside, of course, that gives us concern about the increased risk of spreading infection.”
The Trump campaign announced that attendees at Saturday’s rally would be provided masks, but they wouldn’t be required to wear them. Trump himself has shown reluctance to wear protective masks on several occasions and told the Wall Street Journal that mask wearing was a signal of disapproval of him.
About 2.19 million people in the United States have contracted the coronavirus, and more than 118,400 people have died.
