Dr. Anthony Fauci told lawmakers Monday there was no scientific basis for the 6-foot social distancing rule during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, but said it wasn’t his call to shut the idea down.
The former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said the rule was developed during the early days when researchers believed the virus was chiefly transmitted by droplets. It later became clear that it was aerosolized, which undercut the idea behind the distance rule.
But Dr. Fauci, who retired from government service in December 2022, said that was a call for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and it wasn’t right for him “to be publicly challenging” the system.
“It was their decision to make - and they made it,” Dr. Fauci told a House subcommittee investigating the pandemic.
He was responding to questions from Rep. John Joyce, a Pennsylvania Republican and a doctor, who said the 6-foot rule shuttered schools and closed businesses, despite having no firm basis in science.
Recently, Dr. Fauci acknowledged the rule “sort of just appeared.”
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Mr. Joyce wondered why Dr. Fauci didn’t speak up at the time, saying it fueled “the fracture of trust in American scientists.”
For more information, visit The Washington Times COVID-19 resource page.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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