Covid 6ft distancing guidance ‘just appeared’ and was probably not scientific, admits Dr Fauci
The 6ft social distancing guidance enforced in the US during the Covid pandemic “sort of just appeared”, Dr Anthony Fauci, the former White House medical adviser, has admitted.
It was “likely not based on data”, Dr Fauci conceded in a behind-closed-doors session of the House select subcommittee on the Coronavirus pandemic.
The social distancing requirement – 6ft in the US and 2 metres (6.5ft) in Britain – underpinned sweeping lockdowns on both sides of the Atlantic. It was also a key reason for the mask mandates which became politicised as the pandemic spread.
Dr Fauci also became a polarising figure, lionised by the Left and despised by conservatives with Rand Paul, a libertarian Republican senator, demanding his prosecution.
White circles are drawn on the grass to indicate safe social distance during the pandemic at Domino Park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Credit: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images North America
In his evidence, Dr Fauci also said that the belief that the virus leaked from a lab in Wuhan was not merely a “conspiracy theory”.
Earlier this week, Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor and Republican presidential hopeful, vowed that if he won the election he would “bring a reckoning” to Dr Fauci.
“We cannot allow Anthony Fauci to escape accountability,” DeSantis wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“I am the only candidate who will bring a reckoning for what tyrants like Fauci did to our country during Covid.”
Brad Wenstrup, the Republican chairman of the sub-committee, added: “During his interview today, Dr Fauci claimed that the policies and mandates he promoted may unfortunately increase vaccine hesitancy for years to come.”
The attack was joined by the Wall Street Journal, which said that the 6ft rule was first questioned in August 2020 in the British Medical Journal.
‘They didn’t trust Americans’
“Officials nonetheless promoted the arbitrary rule because they didn’t trust Americans to understand scientific nuance or, for that matter, anything,” the WSJ wrote.
“Businesses, churches and schools that weren’t forced to close had to spend money reconfiguring their operations to comply with these government guidelines.
“It’s nice of Dr Fauci to acknowledge now that the rule lacked a scientific basis.”
However, Democrats accused Republicans of distorting Dr Fauci’s interview, which lasted seven hours spread over two days. Democrat Debbie Dingell said Republican statements were “disinformation”.
This article has been archived for your research. The original version from The Telegraph can be found here.
