Fauci: US political divide over masks has resulted in half a million COVID-19 deaths

Anthony FauciAnthony FauciPublix gives employees who receive COVID-19 vaccine a 5-store gift card on Sunday – COVID-19 dominates as dark Fauci stage approaches: 500,000 coronavirus deaths are ‘devastating’ MORE, the country’s leading infectious disease expert, said on Monday that the political division over mask use has contributed to the tally of coronavirus deaths in the United States.

Fauci made the comments on the same day the country’s death toll reached half a million people a year after the start of the pandemic. Calling the grim step “stunning” in an interview with Reuters, Fauci said the mask-wearing divide, which has divided Americans politically during a presidential election year, has turned the public health measure into a political statement.

“Even under the best of circumstances, this would have been a very serious problem,” Fauci said.

“However, that doesn’t explain how a rich and sophisticated country can have the highest percentage of deaths and be the hardest-hit country in the world,” Fauci said.

Fauci also called the contempt of some governors and mayors for recommendations on how to safely reopen the country after the nationwide lockdowns last spring was incomprehensible.

“When the American spirit is so divided, it really, really made me sad,” he said.

While Fauci would not blame all the blame on the former Trump administration, he noted that “the lack of involvement at the top of management in trying to do anything science-based was clearly detrimental to the effort. “.

While the United States has 4% of the world’s population, it accounts for nearly 20% of all coronavirus deaths, according to Reuters.

“This is the worst thing that has happened to this country when it comes to the health of the nation in over 100 years,” Fauci said.

Fauci told Reuters it was difficult to predict the end of the pandemic due to the emergence of new variants of the coronavirus from South Africa and Brazil. Some studies have indicated that these strains are more resistant to existing coronavirus vaccines.

Fauci suggested Americans could return to pre-pandemic life by Christmas, but warned the restrictions could last until next year.