Published Jun 2, 2021 Updated Jun 2, 2021, 11:52 am CDT
An email Dr. Anthony Fauci sent in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic is reinvigorating outrage about face masks. In the email, first obtained by the
Washington Postand BuzzFeed News via public records requests, Fauci said that masks “are not really effective” at keeping out COVID-19. Featured Video Hide
The longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases wrote, “Masks are really for infected people to prevent them from spreading infection to people who are not infected rather than protecting uninfected people from acquiring infection.” Advertisement Hide
Dr. Fauci added that a “typical mask you buy in the drug store” doesn’t really keep the virus out, because the particles pass through the material, but said it might “provide some slight benefit … if someone coughs or sneezes on you.”