It seems Liz Wheeler created a garbage video that seems to be spreading like wildfire. So here’s a rapid fire response:
“Fauci said that the COVID-19 case fatality rates was 3.6%. That turned out to be a lie. The actual fatality rate of the virus is probably less than 1%.”
- Feb 28, 2020. New England Journal of Medicine. Fauci, Lane, & Redfield expected rates to be “considerably less than 1%.”
- Mar 11, 2020. House Committee Hearing. Regarding a report that the current numbers were showing 2-3%, Fauci stated that those case fatality rates did not “count all the cases of minimally symptomatic or asymptomatic infection, that probably brings the mortality rate down to somewhere around one percent, which means it is 10 times more lethal than the seasonal flu.”
- Anything involving “case counts” is subject to extra consideration anyway, since the administration spent the first year de-prioritizing testing. Without testing, you have no cases to count.
“Fauci also said, ‘masks don’t work, so please don’t buy them,’ he told us. This is actually probably true of cloth masks, but Fauci later admitted he lied to us to manipulate us into not buying masks so that there wouldn’t be a shortage for health care workers.”
- March, 2020. 60 Minutes. Fauci said “masks are important for someone who’s infected to prevent them from infecting someone else.” But he added that face masks generally do not provide the “perfect protection” from getting infected “that people think” and so “there’s no reason to be walking around with a mask.”
- These comments matched the CDC Guidelines at the time, based on the best information that we had. But I don’t need to rehash this because it’s been covered many (1), many (2), many (3-July), many (3-Dec) times before.
But seriously, there’s no reason for me to reinvent the wheel here. Check out the fine work they do over at FactCheck.Org. They have a COVID Specific Page, with citations – which is something those Facebook Forwards and internet hacks always seem to be lacking.
Research and Resources Provided
- Hsu, Tiffany. “One America News spreads debunked elections claims.” New York Times. 12 Nov 2020.
- “Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Herd immunity, lockdowns and COVID-19.” World Health Organization. 31 Dec 2020.
- Meyers, Lauren Ancel. Professor, Departments of Integrative Biology and Statistics & Data Sciences, University of Texas at Austin and Director of UT COVID-19 Modeling Consortium. Phone interview with FactCheck.org. 29 Jan 2021.
- Zhanwei, Du et al. “Effects of Proactive Social Distancing on COVID-19 Outbreaks in 58 Cities, China.” Emerging Infectious Diseases. Vol. 26, Number 9 (2020).
- Matrajt, Laura. Research associate, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Email to FactCheck.org. 29 Jan 2021.
- Caristia, Silvia et al. “Effect of national and local lockdowns on the control of COVID-19 pandemic: a rapid review.” Epidemiologia e prevenzione. 44, 5-6 (2020).
- Inglesby, Thomas V. “Public Health Measures and the Reproduction Number of SARS-CoV-2.” JAMA. 1 May 2020.
- Olney, Andrew M. et al. “Estimating the Effect of Social Distancing Interventions on COVID-19 in the United States.” American Journal of Epidemiology. 7 Jan 2021.
- Flaxman, Seth et al. “Estimating the effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions on COVID-19 in Europe.” Nature 584, 257–261 (2020).
- Haug, Nils et al. “Ranking the effectiveness of worldwide COVID-19 government interventions.” Nature Human Behavior. 4, 1303–1312 (2020).
- Mulder, Brandon. “Fact-check: Are shutdowns ‘ineffective’?” Austin American-Statesman. 27 Nov 2020.
- “Non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as lockdowns and wearing face masks, are effective measures to reduce COVID-19 transmission, contrary to claims in viral video.” Health Feedback. 19 Nov 2020.
- “Fact check: Studies show COVID-19 lockdowns have saved lives.” Reuters. 24 Nov 2020.
- Nichols, Chris. “Yes, Government Shutdowns Help Slow COVID-19 When Combined With Additional Measures, Experts Say.” PolitiFact. 16 Dec 2020.
- Guzzetta, Guzzetta et al. “Impact of a Nationwide Lockdown on SARS-CoV-2 Transmissibility, Italy.” Emerging Infectious Diseases. 20 Oct 2020.
- Fuller, James A. et al. “Mitigation Policies and COVID-19–Associated Mortality — 37 European Countries, January 23–June 30, 2020.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 15 Jan 2021.
- McDonald, Jessica. “Paul Misleads on Natural Infection and COVID-19 Vaccines.” FactCheck.org. 19 Nov 2020.
- Toy, Sarah and Daniela Hernandez. “Should People Who Have Had Covid-19 Wait to Get a Vaccine?” Wall Street Journal. 21 Dec 2020.
- “Facts about COVID-19 Vaccines.” CDC. Last updated 28 Jan 2021.
- “COVID-19 Vaccine FAQs for Healthcare Professionals.” CDC. Last reviewed 7 Jan 2021.
- “Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines Currently Authorized in the United States.” CDC. Last updated 21 Jan 2021.
- Lumley, Sheila F. et al. “Antibody Status and Incidence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Health Care Workers.” New England Journal of Medicine. 23 Dec 2020.
- Dean, Natalie E. (@nataliexdean). “Our group’s household secondary attack rate meta-analysis has gained traction, but not for the reasons I’d hoped for. We did not conclude “no asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic spread” of SARS-CoV-2. A short explanation of what we did observe. 1/7.” Twitter. 29 Dec 2020.
- Madewell, Zachary J. et al. “Household Transmission of SARS-CoV-2: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.” JAMA Network Open. 14 Dec 2020.
- Jacobson, Louis. “No, a recent study didn’t find that there was “no asymptomatic” spread of COVID-19.” PolitiFact. 28 Dec 2020.
- Block, Jude Joffe. “Posts misrepresent study examining household coronavirus transmission.” Associated Press. 28 Dec 2020.
- Johansson, Michael A. et al. “SARS-CoV-2 Transmission From People Without COVID-19 Symptoms.” JAMA Network Open. 7 Jan 2021.
- “Considerations for Wearing Masks.” CDC. Last updated 18 Dec 2020.
- Spencer, Saranac Hale. “Outdated Fauci Video on Face Masks Shared Out of Context.” FactCheck.org. 19 May 2020.
- “60 Minutes” YouTube Channel. “March 2020: Dr. Anthony Fauci talks with Dr Jon LaPook about Covid-19.” Video. 8 Mar 2020.
- McDonald, Jessica. “COVID-19 Face Mask Advice, Explained.” FactCheck.org. 6 Apr 2020.
- Ross, Katherine. “Why Weren’t We Wearing Masks From the Beginning? Dr. Fauci Explains.” TheStreet.com. 12 Jun 2020.
- Washington Post. “Fauci on how his thinking has evolved on masks, asymptomatic transmission.” Washingtonpost.com. 24 Jul 2020.
- Artiga, Samantha, et al. “Key Characteristics of Health Care Workers and Implications for COVID-19 Vaccination.” Kaiser Family Foundation. 21 Jan 2021.
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Importance of COVID-19 Vaccination for Healthcare Personnel. Cdc.gov. 28 Dec 2020, accessed 1 Feb 2021.
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Older Adults, At greater risk of requiring hospitalization or dying if diagnosed with COVID-19. Cdc.gov. 13 Dec 2020, accessed 1 Feb 2021.
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cases & Deaths among Healthcare Personnel. Cdc.gov. Accessed 2 Feb 2021.
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When Vaccine is Limited, Who Should Get Vaccinated First? Cdc.gov. 8 Jan 2021, accessed 1 Feb 2021.
- Ochieng, Nancy, et al. “Factors Associated With COVID-19 Cases and Deaths in Long-Term Care Facilities: Findings from a Literature Review.” Kaiser Family Foundation. 14 Jan 2021.
- Kaiser Family Foundation. State COVID-19 Data and Policy Actions. COVID: Long-Term Care Facilities. Kff.org. Accessed 1 Feb 2021.
- Dooling, Kathleen, et al.”The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ Interim Recommendation for Allocating Initial Supplies of COVID-19 Vaccine — United States, 2020.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2020;69:1857-1859. 11 Dec 2020.
- Dooling, Kathleen, et al. “The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ Updated Interim Recommendation for Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccine — United States, December 2020.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2021;69(5152):1657-1660, 1 Jan 2021.
- Kates, Jennifer, Tolbert, Jennifer and Michaud, Josh. “The COVID-19 ‘Vaccination Line’: An Update on State Prioritization Plans.” Kaiser Family Foundation. 11 Jan 2021.
- Jewett, Christina, Lewis, Robert and Bailey, Melissa. “More Than 2,900 Health Care Workers Died This Year — And the Government Barely Kept Track.” Kaiser Health News. 23 Dec 2020.