{UAH} THE ANTHONY FAUCI'S BIGGEST FLIP-FLOPS AND BACKTRACKS AMID COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Here are Fauci's biggest flip-flops and backtracks amid the coronavirus pandemic

by Emma Colton, Social Media Manager  

 

Dr. Anthony Fauci has flip-flopped or been proven wrong on a host of different coronavirus measures and recommendations since the virus first hit the United States last winter.

Fauci, the leading White House coronavirus task force member, has changed positions or faced scientific data proving his stances are flawed on issues ranging from mask wearing to the severity of the virus and from asymptomatic spread to effective treatments for patients, among other issues, since January.

The flashpoint for Fauci's missteps has been his feud with Sen. Rand Paul, who said that Fauci owes an apology to "every single parent and school-age child in America" for resisting calls for students to go back to school and then reversing that position on Sunday.

“Close the bars and keep the schools open,” Fauci said during an appearance on ABC’s This Week, adding that there is “obviously” not a “one size fits all” approach to schooling.

His comments come after months of President Trump and lawmakers demanding that schools must open and warning that the effects from lockdowns could be devastating. Studies from the U.S. and abroad have already shown that keeping children from schools has had serious consequences, with suicides among youths rising in Wisconsin, children forgetting basic life skills in the United Kingdom, and an overall increase of mental health-related emergency department visits for youths across the U.S.

This was not the only time Paul faced Fauci in a Senate hearing face-off about the particulars of the coronavirus. Paul repeatedly questioned Fauci in September on how preexisting crossreactive immunity could potentially stop the spread of COVID-19, citing data from Asia. Fauci told Paul that there was no evidence making that case.

In November, however, Paul took a victory lap when the New York Times published research backing up his claims and showed that some adults, and even more children, carried an antibody that can prevent coronavirus infection, including COVID-19.

But these are just the most recent examples of Fauci backtracking or being proven wrong.

On March 8, he described lockdown measures in China as “draconian” and stated that such restrictions wouldn’t be “feasible” in the U.S., more than a month after the World Health Organization had declared a global health emergency on Jan. 30.

Days later on March 15, he changed positions and said he was open to a national 14-day shutdown to help stop the spread. In April, when pressed in a CNN interview on why social distancing and lockdowns weren't implemented sooner, he sparked confusion when he said more lives “obviously” could have been saved if there hadn't been "pushback" to lockdowns at the start of the pandemic. The very next day, he backtracked, saying that he used “the wrong choice of words."

In September, Fauci testified that he did not "regret" saying that the only way to stop the "explosion of infection" was by "shutting down."

Perhaps Fauci's most notable flip-flop has been on the efficacy of masks, saying in March that there was "no reason" to wear a mask. By April, he joined the chorus of doctors and health agencies encouraging the use of face masks.

Fauci also previously downplayed the virus itself, something Trump was harshly criticized for, saying in February that the public should not be “frightened." By March, he was singing a different tune, warning people that they needed to do their part to stop the spread and take the virus seriously.

He also downplayed asymptomatic transmission on Jan. 28, saying what "people need to realize" is that in "all the history" of respiratory-borne viruses, asymptomatic transmission has never been the driver of outbreaks. By August, Fauci did a complete 180, saying asymptomatic cases were a driving factor in the community spread of COVID-19 despite a WHO admission that more evidence was needed to make this determination. In late August, researchers from Southern Medical University in Guangzhou concluded that "asymptomatic cases were least likely to infect their close contacts."

Fauci’s recommendations for treating COVID-19 have also been challenged by recent scientific data.

Fauci advocated the use of remdesivir in April, citing one trial prior to it being peer-reviewed, lauding it as a breakthrough “in diminishing time to recovery” for patients with COVID-19 and predicting it "will be the standard of care."

In November, however, the WHO warned against using remdesivir, saying that “there is currently no evidence that remdesivir improves survival and other outcomes in these patients.” The news came after Trump took the medication when he was diagnosed with COVID-19 in October and after the Food and Drug Administration approved it for the treatment of COVID-19.

Over the summer, Fauci dismissed hydroxychloroquine as a treatment after Trump touted the drug, saying research showed that it was not “effective." Trump was subsequently met with condemnation from the press and others. In November, however, a peer-reviewed study, which will be published in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, found that there were 84% fewer hospitalizations with patients who were given a drug cocktail containing hydroxychloroquine.

Fauci warned in a May hearing while the school closure debate was ongoing that Kawasaki disease, which causes inflammation in blood vessels in children, could be related to COVID-19. However, diagnoses of Kawasaki disease did not increase in 2020 compared to data from 2018 and 2019, according to research released in November.

Paul again directed his ire toward Fauci's COVID-19 advice last month, accusing him of glossing “over the science.”

"He believes that submission and lockdowns are fine," the senator said. "He's not too worried about individual liberties, but he also tends to gloss over the science, because we've had this debate back and forth about immunity.”

Fauci, however, has remained steadfast and vocal with the media that the science must be followed.

He gives frequent updates that people must socially distance, follow local health orders, and brace for a holiday season rife with restrictions. Fauci referred to Trump's Rose Garden ceremony for Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court appointment as a "superspreader event" and called Trump's campaign rallies "troublesome," but he has yet to answer repeated Washington Examiner inquires regarding social distancing orders amid months of public protests and riots.

“What we expect, unfortunately, as we go for the next couple of weeks into December, is that we might see a surge superimposed on the surge we are already in,” Fauci said in late November. “I don’t want to frighten people, except to say it is not too late to do something about this.”

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