Opinion of Anthony Fauci

[Sir Mohamed]

Major FF.

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

The only adult in the room it seems.

[Del Tachi]

I like Debbie Birx better, way less flashy

[Statilius the Epicurean]

HP for dissimulating to the US public about the efficacy of masks for months.

[PSOL]

The best we have

[Roll Roons]

HP for dissimulating to the US public about the efficacy of masks for months.

Not saying that was a good move at all, but I understand why he did it. In March/early April, there was a shortage of masks and they needed to be saved for healthcare workers. He knew that people would freak out and panic buy them like they did with toilet paper and hand sanitizer. But I agree that it really could have been communicated better.

Other than that, big FF.

[brucejoel99]

Fauci is God.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

HP for dissimulating to the US public about the efficacy of masks for months.

Not saying that was a good move at all, but I understand why he did it. In March/early April, there was a shortage of masks and they needed to be saved for healthcare workers. He knew that people would freak out and panic buy them like they did with toilet paper and hand sanitizer. But I agree that it really could have been communicated better.

Other than that, big FF.

There may have been a shortage of N-95 medical masks, but even cloth masks significantly reduce transmission in closed spaces. There was little-to-no downside for the medical advice to be make homemade masks. Tens of thousands of people died because health officials lied to the public on masks.

[Alben Barkley]

HP for dissimulating to the US public about the efficacy of masks for months.

Not saying that was a good move at all, but I understand why he did it. In March/early April, there was a shortage of masks and they needed to be saved for healthcare workers. He knew that people would freak out and panic buy them like they did with toilet paper and hand sanitizer. But I agree that it really could have been communicated better.

Other than that, big FF.

There may have been a shortage of N-95 medical masks, but even cloth masks significantly reduce transmission in closed spaces. There was little-to-no downside for the medical advice to be make homemade masks. Tens of thousands of people died because health officials lied to the public on masks.

I don't think you understand what would have happened. People would have hoarded these things like they were everything else. Not just N95s, all kinds of masks. It would have made it HARDER for most people to access one. Never mind the medical officials, who themselves had to resort to reusing masks and using makeshift masks in some cases as it was. The national stockpile of PPE was entirely depleted by early April.

As for the claim that tens of thousands of people died as a direct result of this, yeah I'm definitely gonna need a source on that. At this time people were being put into lockdown, so masks wouldn't have done that much as most people weren't out in public much. Even with an earlier mask recommendation, the types of people who would have violated the lockdowns/quarantines likely are the same types of people who aren't wearing masks anyway.

And no, recommending people make their own masks wouldn't have made much difference. Americans are lazy, so people still would have panic bought/hoarded masks.

And let's not forget that masks are far from completely effective, especially the cloth masks, and that early on there was still a lot of uncertainty about the virus.

God I really can't stand it when people (ahem, socialists) just feel they have to be contrarians about everything and everybody by the way. Very easy to nitpick and tear apart and judge and feel superior from the sidelines. Much harder to actually be in the arena making very difficult, life and death public policy decisions. Has it occurred to you that perhaps Fauci considered everything you've thought of and more when making his decision? Has it occurred to you that he probably has a hell of a lot more medical knowledge than you do, both in general and specific to this situation?

[AtorBoltox]

Find who the 7 hp voters are and ban them

[Antonio the Sixth]

I think under a sane administration he'd be considered an average civil servant - competent at his job, but not worthy of superstar status. Under this administration, though...

[Statilius the Epicurean]

I don't think you understand what would have happened. People would have hoarded these things like they were everything else. Not just N95s, all kinds of masks. It would have made it HARDER for most people to access one. Never mind the medical officials, who themselves had to resort to reusing masks and using makeshift masks in some cases as it was. The national stockpile of PPE was entirely depleted by early April.

As you point out N-95 masks were hoarded and depleted anyway! The only thing the dissimulation on advice over masks (contrary to what East Asian countries were advising, and who rapidly eliminated the virus) achieved was helping the virus spread rapidly and kill tens of thousands more people.

As for the claim that tens of thousands of people died as a direct result of this, yeah I'm definitely gonna need a source on that.

Simple extrapolation from the known effectiveness of any kind of face covering, as seen in East Asia where mask usage was near universal and the disease was rapidly contained.

At this time people were being put into lockdown, so masks wouldn't have done that much as most people weren't out in public much.

No, the advice that masks weren't effective was in February and March, before the lockdowns happened.

People like to laugh and be outraged by idiot people complaining and refusing to wear masks now that there's a second surge coming...well maybe it would have helped for health advice to have been mask usage from the beginning of the pandemic...

[Santander]

Massive HP

[courts]

annoying

[Ferguson97]

Massive HP

Please expand

[darklordoftech]

Major FF.

[John Dule]

Massive HP

Please expand

Weird request but ok