In new emails published by Buzzfeed, the public now has a better view of how media tramp and alleged Wuhan coronavirus expert Dr. Anthony Fauci knew masks were not as effective as he later publicly said.
The emails from early in 2020 as COVID-19 spread from China around the world show Dr. Fauci advised several people and told multiple media outlets that masks were not necessary, didn't protect people, and should not be mandated—a significant departure from what he and his team of national health officials would later say in support of mask mandates.
Responding to a question on February 5, 2020, about whether someone should wear a mask while traveling by plane, Fauci pointed out the inefficacy of surgical masks and ultimately recommended against wearing personal protective equipment while traveling by air. "Masks are really for infected people to prevent them from spreading infection to people who are not infected rather than protecting uninfected people from acquiring infection," he said. "The typical mask you buy in the drug store is not really effective in keeping out virus, which is small enough to pass through the material." Fauci concluded, saying "I do not recommend that you wear a mask" to travel by air.
A February 10, 2020 Q&A with the Washington Post was forwarded to Fauci, in which he responded to a question of "what should the average person be doing" about COVID, saying "at this point" COVID "is low risk" before saying Americans should "absolutely not" be wearing a mask.
In an email thread dated to mid-February 2020, Fauci and an aide discuss responses to a reporter's questions about COVID-19. When responding on whether "masks work?" Dr. Fauci's approved response was "The vast majority of people outside of China do not need to wear a mask" because "a mask is more appropriate for someone who is infected than for people trying to protect against infection."
In an April 2020 email, Fauci's response to a question about mask policy from the dean of medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina advises the school should "keep the policy 'voluntary' but... would 'encourage' employees to wear them."
So Dr. Fauci knew the masks most Americans would end up wearing by force of federal or state edict for months were not effective, advised against masking up for travel—a federal mandate for which remains in place today—and recognized that mask use shouldn't be mandatory for uninfected individuals.
In response to these revelations that most Americans already knew to be true, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) tweeted simply "Told you" along with "#firefauci" before adding he "can't wait to see the media try to spin the Fauci FOIA emails" after being repeatedly attacked by Fauci during Senate hearings where Paul challenged the theater of mask-wearing.
Can’t wait to see the media try to spin the Fauci FOIA emails.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) June 2, 2021
Dr. Fauci admitting—in his own words—that most masks worn during the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic were ineffective follows recent studies that found mask mandates implemented by cities, states, and other entities didn't actually slow the spread of COVID-19. Instead, it shows how power-hungry bureaucrats and politicians who wish to control the lives of U.S. citizens abused the pretext of a global pandemic unleashed by communist China to grab power and malign freedom-loving and true science-following Americans.