Dr Fauci praises Australia's coronavirus response and Melbourne's face mask rules

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Dr Fauci praises Australia’s coronavirus response and Melbourne’s face mask rules

America’s top Covid expert says Victoria lockdown and mask-wearing struck right balance between health and economy and he wished US adopted same mentality

Naaman Zhou
@naamanzhou
Thu 29 Oct 2020 03.00 GMTLast modified on Thu 29 Oct 2020 03.21 GMT

America’s top infectious diseases expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, has praised Melbourne’s response to the coronavirus, saying he “wished” the US could adopt the same mentality.

In an interview hosted by the University of Melbourne and the Melbourne-based Doherty Institute, Fauci said Australia was “one of the countries that has done actually quite well” in handling the virus.

“I really wish that we could transplant that kind of mentality here,” he said. “Because masks in the United States have almost become a political statement.”

Fauci, who is the most senior member of the White House’s coronavirus taskforce, said that Melbourne’s lockdown and mandatory mask-wearing had struck the right balance between public health and opening up the economy.

“A couple of hours before I came to my home here to pick up this Zoom, I was at a meeting virtually in the situation room in the White House,” he said. “If I were to use the word ‘shutdown’ the country or ‘lockdown’, I would be in serious trouble. They would probably be throwing tomatoes at me or something.”

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/oct/29/dr-fauci-praises-australias-coronavirus-response-and-melbournes-face-mask-rules

[soothsayer]

1. It's embarrassing

[phylny]

2. My hope is that with new leadership and a new president,

Dr. Fauci will be able to help us turn the tide.