After saying the six-foot social distancing guideline during the COVID-19 pandemic “sort of just appeared,” Dr. Anthony Fauci on Monday testified that his statement had been “distorted” and that it “actually” came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Fauci, a longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and former chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, was grilled during a hearing before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on Monday. He said that the guideline to explain that the guideline “actually came from the CDC. The CDC was responsible for those kinds of guidelines for schools, not me.”
A transcript of Fauci’s past testimony about the health recommendations to reduce exposure made waves when they were released last week due to his comment that he was “not aware” of studies that supported the six-foot standard adopted for schools, businesses, and beyond.
“It sort of just appeared,” Fauci said. “I don’t recall, like, a discussion of whether it should be 5 or 6 or whatever.”
Fauci clarifies statement that 6-foot-distancing guideline “just appeared,” says it came from the CDC. pic.twitter.com/f24TecgR5N
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) June 3, 2024
Fauci testified he believed the CDC based its recommendation on “studies years ago” with the suspicion that primary COVID-19 transmission came through droplets. That view was “incorrect” as health officials know today that aerosols “play a role,” he said.
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“It had little to do with me since I didn’t make the recommendation and my saying there was no science behind it means there was no clinical trial that proved that,” Fauci said. “That’s just one of the things that got a little distorted in the response to that.”
Later in the hearing, Rep. John Joyce (R-PA) — a dermatologist-turned-lawmaker — pressed Fauci to further answer for the early six-foot guideline for re-opening schools when the science at the time did not support the distancing standard.
.@repjohnjoyce: “This six-foot rule crippled businesses…Americans suffered.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci: “The CDC’s decision, it was their decision to make and they made it.” pic.twitter.com/SRYR2jSNhB
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 3, 2024
“This six foot rule crippled businesses. It allowed students to stay at home and not learn. Americans suffered, and that suffering continues because the fracture of trust in American scientists continues to this day,” Joyce said.
When asked if he did not feel obligated to push back on the CDC, Fauci insisted he “challenged CDC multiple times,” but also stressed “it is not appropriate to be publicly challenging a sister organization.” Fauci dismissed the notion that “disinformation” played a role.
