WINTER IS COMING

Anthony Fauci: Florida Re-Opening Bars Amid COVID-19 Is ‘Very Concerning’

Top infectious-disease official issued the warning, saying the U.S. is “not in a good place” for the upcoming winter season as COVID-19 cases continue to soar.

Just says after Florida’s governor announced a full re-opening of bars and restaurants in the state despite its raging coronavirus pandemic, Anthony Fauci is expressing his concern the decision to loosen restrictions will spark more cases. In an interview on ABC’s Good Morning America on Monday, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said “that is very concerning” that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would lift restrictions on businesses statewide, despite the state still battling a 10 percent test-positivity rate, as measured by Johns Hopkins University. “That is something we really need to be careful about because when you’re dealing with community spread and you have the kind of congregate setting where people get together, particularly without masks, you’re really asking for trouble,” Fauci said.

Fauci, who also said the United States is “not in a good place” for the upcoming winter season as COVID-19 cases continue to soar, insisted he’s not calling for universal shutdowns. He is, however, asking for some “common sense.” “When I say that, people get concerned that we’re talking about shutting down," he said. “We’re not talking about shutting anything down. We’re talking about common sense type of publichealth measures that we’ve been talking about all along.”