Epidemiologist Anthony Fauci has been one of the most visible faces of the pandemic in the United States. Adviser to the Government of the country, his discrepancies with then-President Donald Trump were public at the beginning of the health crisis caused by COVID-19. Now, almost a year and a half after the coronavirus spread around the world, BuzzFeed News and The Washington Post have published hundreds of emails talking about the pandemic that the doctor exchanged with politicians, authorities, public figures, professional colleagues and even unknown citizens.
In one of them, Fauci exchanges messages with an EcoHealth Alliance executive, who thanks the virologist for defending the thesis that states that the origin of the coronavirus is animal and it jumped to humans from animals, thus not adhering to the theory, today also again current, that the pathogen was created artificially in a Wuhan laboratory.
That is what Fauci thought at the beginning of the pandemic, but more than a year later he reaffirms his theory. In an interview on CNN, the doctor was clear: “I still believe that the most likely origin is from an animal species to a human. If you look historically at what happens at the animal-human interface, it is most likely that we are facing a species jump ”.
A “lab leak” cannot be ruled out
However, the great virologist from the United States assures that despite what he or others may believe, “we must continue looking for the origin” of the coronavirus. While ensuring that continues to believe the theory of the jump between species, Fauci assured that he does not rule out that it could be a “laboratory leak.”
Why did you recommend going without a mask?
During his conversation on CNN, the epidemiologist was also questioned about other emails that have come to light in the leak to various national media. In one of them, Fauci recommends to Sylvia Burwell, then secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, not to use a mask because she is going to travel to a low-risk place.
Asked about it, the doctor remembers that That email was sent before the pandemic was declared in the world and alleges that the information that was available at that time was negligible with respect to what was known little by little about the virus. For example, Fauci explains that at the beginning of the pandemic, the substantial amount of infections that were produced by people asymptomatic to COVID-19 was not known, but that nevertheless they infected many people around them.
“We did not know at the time that masks work outside of the hospital setting. If we had noticed by then, of course he would have acted differently. It’s obvious”, zanja Fauci.
–
