Top US infectious disease expert Dr Fauci spotted without mask at indoor party: Report

The United States top infectious disease expert and National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director Dr Anthony Fauci was spotted without wearing a face mask at a book party in Washington, DC earlier this week, reported Politico on Friday, November 19. Sally Quinn, who has known Fauci since he was a young NIH doctor, questioned why President Biden's chief medical adviser wasn't wearing a mask and had his face exposed, to this he replied, "I just decided that if anyone came up that I didn't know, I would put my mask on," Fauci was quoted as saying by the outlet. 

Quinn further stated that Dr Fauci was also surrounded by paparazzi who were attempting to the White House COVID Czar without a mask on. However, defending Fauci, she stated that the NIAID director was "completely safe" as everyone who had come to the party were fully vaccinated. Although guests at the party, which was held in the opulent Italian restaurant Cafe Milano, reportedly all received the vaccine, as proof of for the same was required for entry, it's not sure if everyone was checked properly, according to the outlet. 

Earlier in September, Dr Fauci warned that COVID-19 is "nowhere near under control" in the United States as cases have soared more than ten times higher than they need to be to end the pandemic. His comments had come after he issued a warning about the possibility of new coronavirus mutations, which he claimed could be even more contagious than the Delta Variant, reported Axios, an American news website. Meanwhile, last month he stated that the reported case counts in the country are low, implying that the actual infection rate is significantly higher. "You can't hang around in a country our size and have 100,000 infections a day. Before you start feeling comfortable, you have to get well below 10,000,” he was quoted as saying by the news website. 

'US has a high percentage of 'vaccine hesitant' population'

He went on to add that the threat of a pandemic should diminish as vaccination rates rise. Stressing the importance of vaccination, Dr Fauci had stated that it is critical in preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the community. It should be mentioned that  America has a considerably higher percentage of the ‘vaccine hesitant’ population, refusing to get the shots citing health reasons. In the United States, 59% of the population has been fully vaccinated, with another 65 % having received at least one dose, according to the country's health department's data.

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