White House coronavirus advisor Anthony Fauci praises Victorian attitude to mask wearing
By Leonie Thorne
Posted 4hhours ago, updated 1hhour ago
Top White House coronavirus adviser Anthony Fauci has praised Victoria's attitude towards mask-wearing, saying it has been "painful" to see the issue become politicised in the United States.
Dr Fauci, one of the United States' leading infectious diseases experts, said Australia and New Zealand were among countries that he believed had done "quite well" in tackling the pandemic.
He made the comments in a panel discussion with Doherty Institute director Sharon Lewin, hosted by the University of Melbourne's Dean of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Shitij Kapur.
"I would like to say the same for the United States, but the numbers speak for themselves," he said.
Dr Fauci said among the country's challenges were how states operated independently despite having a central government.
"Although there's many positives of independent states, when you're dealing with a pandemic and you say 'we need everyone to be doing A, B and C', and all of a sudden state 43 does this and state 27 does that, it becomes very difficult," he said.
He said the problem was particularly noticeable when the US tried to "open up the economy" recently.
Despite having recommendations for how to do that safely, Dr Fauci said the approach across the country was like an inconsistent "free for all" where some states skipped benchmarks or did not pay attention to health advice at all.
"Some states tried to do it well, but yet when you looked at the TV screen, you'd see people crowded at bars with no masks, just essentially causing super-spreading," he said.
"Even though we had the guidelines of universal wearing of masks, keeping distance, avoiding crowded and congregated settings, doing things outdoors more than indoors, and washing your hands.
"If everyone had done that uniformly, I don't think we would be in the position we're in right now."
Dr Fauci, a member of the United States coronavirus taskforce, has often been at odds with US President Donald Trump over how to best handle the pandemic.
Mr Trump recently described the renowned infectious diseases expert as a "disaster" and has ridiculed his Democratic opponent Joe Biden for wanting to "listen to Dr Fauci".
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-28/white-house-covid-expert-anthony-fauci-praises-victoria-masks/12823856