Dr Anthony Fauci slammed as he finally admits keeping schools closed during Covid was a 'mistake'

WASHINGTON, DC: In a recent interview with CBS Mornings on June 18, Dr Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), acknowledged that the prolonged closure of schools during the Covid-19 pandemic was a “mistake.”

While he maintained that the initial decision to close schools was warranted, he conceded that keeping them shut for more than a year was not a good idea. "Keeping it for a year was not a good idea," Fauci told co-host Tony Dokoupil while discussing his new memoir, 'On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service'.

When pressed by Dokoupil if it was a mistake that would not be repeated, Fauci responded, “Absolutely, yeah.”

The shift in Fauci’s stance

Fauci’s recent remarks mark a significant shift from his previous stance. Throughout the pandemic, Fauci had consistently supported school closures as a necessary measure to control the spread of Covid-19. In sworn congressional testimony and various interviews, he advocated for keeping schools closed if community transmission rates were high.

During the summer of 2020, as schools were considering reopening, Fauci frequently clashed with then-President Donald Trump. On July 8, 2020, Trump criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for reopening schools, calling them "very tough & expensive."

“I disagree with @CDCgov on their very tough & expensive guidelines for opening schools. While they want them open, they are asking schools to do very impractical things. I will be meeting with them!!!” Trump tweeted on July 8, 2020.

Fauci, on the other hand, warned against reopening in areas with high virus levels, stating in August 2020, “There may be some areas where the level of virus is so high that it would not be prudent to bring children back to school.”

When 'PBS NewsHour' host Judy Woodruff asked him that same month whether “many months of virtual learning” would become the new norm, Fauci responded, “In some places, Judy, that may be the case.”

Despite Fauci’s caution, data began to emerge suggesting that schools were not major vectors for virus transmission. Brown University’s National COVID-19 School Response Data Dashboard reported that fewer than 1% of schools that reopened in September 2020 showed cases of Covid-19.

Additionally, a CDC study in January 2021 found “little evidence that schools have contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission.”

However, pressure from powerful teachers’ unions and other stakeholders led to continued closures. Most classrooms remained shut until the following school year, despite growing evidence that schools could operate safely with appropriate precautions, the New York Post reported.

Consequences of prolonged school closures

The extended period of remote learning had significant negative impacts on students. The US Department of Education released statistics in September 2022 showing that reading scores among nine-year-olds had dropped to their lowest point in 30 years, and math scores fell for the first time in half a century of tracking.

Reflecting on these outcomes, Fauci admitted in an October 2022 interview with ABC News that officials should have done “everything we can to keep the schools open.”

“I don’t want to use the word ‘mistake,’” Fauci told ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl when asked about school closures. “If I do, it gets taken out of the context that you’re asking me the question on,” he continued. “We should realize — and have realized — that there will be deleterious collateral consequences when you do something like that.”

He voiced his frustration over being scapegoated as the architect of the closures, stating, “I had nothing to do [with it]. I mean, let’s get down to the facts.”

While testifying before the House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Pandemic this year, Fauci revealed that the six-feet social distancing guidelines were not scientifically backed.

“It sort of just appeared. I don’t recall,” he told the panel in January of the mandate that nullified most in-person learning options. “Just an empiric decision that wasn’t based on data or even data that could be accomplished.”

A spokesperson for the House COVID subcommittee majority told the New York Post, “The ‘science’ promoted by teachers unions and public health officials never justified prolonged school closures. Safely returning our children to school as soon as possible should have been the top priority. In the face of a future pandemic, our public health officials must recognize this COVID-era failure and never again repeat it.”

In his 'CBS Mornings' interview, Fauci maintained that the real issue with closures was the timing and execution. He suggested that schools should have been shut down “immediately” and “completely” while emphasizing “major social distancing” measures.

“I kept on saying, ‘Close the bars, open the schools, open the schools as quickly and as safely as you possibly can,'” he claimed. “But, initially, to close it down, was correct.”

“One clear area seems to be the school closures, which did enormous harm to kids on multiple levels,” Dokoupil noted, “and didn’t seem to save lives. And I wonder, can we say today that that is a mistake?”

“No,” Fauci responded.

Fauci slammed on social media

Fauci’s recent comments sparked a wave of backlash on social media, with many accusing him of reversing his position too late and calling for accountability.

"Of course he does. Arrest Fauci," one posted on X.

"4 years too late… indict Fauci," another wrote.

"It wasn't a mistake, it was intentional, does this sound like a man with any regrets to you?" someone else asked.

"More flip-flops than a sandal store," a comment read.

"This is outrageous..so many kids will never recover from his 'guidance.' Dude belongs in jail," another insisted.

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