Fauci suggests potential federal mask 'guidelines' in light of rising COVID cases

Dr. Anthony Fauci suggested on Sunday that as COVID-19 cases surge, there could be federal recommendations for wearing masks.

However, he expressed doubt about the imposition of a federal mask mandate. While on ABC's This Week, Fauci mentioned to Jon Karl that he would be "extremely surprised" if a national mask mandate was introduced, the Washington Examiner reports.

"I can see that if we get a significant uptick in cases that you may see the recommendation that masks be used under certain circumstances and indoor crowded settings, but I don't see there'd be certainly not federal mandates," he said.

"There may be local organizations that may require masks, but I think what we're gonna see mostly are, if the cases go up that there might be recommendations, not mandates. There's a big difference there," Fauci continued.

Karl further questioned the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health about the effectiveness of masks in hindsight. When confronted with recent studies suggesting that mask usage might not have been as effective in controlling the spread of COVID-19, Fauci responded that some of these studies are being misinterpreted.

He then pointed to a study by the Cochrane Library which examined the "Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses." According to Fauci, the study has been "quoted a lot and causing a lot of confusion."

The study reported that, "Wearing masks in the community probably makes little or no difference to the outcome of influenza‐like illness (ILI)/COVID-19 like illness compared to not wearing masks."

However, after media reported on the study, the Cochrane Library stated that the findings were ultimately not definitive, noting that claiming it was definitive would be misleading, and "shows that 'masks don't work'" is "inaccurate and misleading."

Fauci referenced the study, asserting that the idea that masks don't work is "absolutely not the case, and that "there are a number of studies that show that masks actually do work."