Dr. Anthony Fauci urged the people of Texas and Mississippi on Thursday to continue wearing masks despite their governors lifting state mask orders.
“You know my strong advice to them, Joe, would be to actually continue to implement the public health measures. Now is not the time to pull back. The good news is that we have vaccines coming online,” Fauci said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Tuesday that the state’s businesses can return to full operation next Wednesday and Texans won’t be required to wear masks in public, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves tweeted that Mississippi’s businesses can also start fully operating on Wednesday and that the state is “lifting all our county mask mandates.” (RELATED: ‘Absolutely Reckless’: Gavin Newsom Slams Texas’s Decision To Lift Mask Mandate)
President Joe Biden and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki criticized the governors on Wednesday and claimed the state leaders were ignoring “the science.”
WATCH:
“You see the curve of the infections per day coming down. But over the last seven days or so we have reached a bit of plateau where the deflection isn’t going straight down the way it was. That’s a bad sign. We’ve seen that before,” Fauci said.
Fauci said they saw the same pattern happen over the summer when politicians were attempting to open both the economy and the country while urging obedience to various health guidelines.
“And as you know there was variable adherence to the guidelines. And then we had that really big surge that we don’t want to repeat now,” Fauci said. “I mean, we’re going in the right direction. Now is the time to keep the foot on the accelerator and not pull off because the thing that we don’t want is yet again another surge.”
Fauci advised Texans and Mississippi residents to obey “the public health measures” and urged them to wear masks, social distance, keep away from gatherings, especially gatherings held inside.
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