Dr. Fauci calls relaxing Covid precautions in Texas and Mississippi ‘inexplicable’

Dr. Anthony Fauci has strongly objected to the recent moves by some states to relax their Covid-19 precautions, calling the decision to do so “inexplicable”.

“I don’t know why they’re doing it, but it certainly from a public health standpoint is ill advised,” a visibly dejected Dr. Fauci told CNN’s Erin Burnett. “It is just inexplicable why you would want to pull back now.”

The governors of Texas and Mississippi both announced on Tuesday that they were lifting mask mandates and allowing all businesses in their states to fully reopen, citing progress on vaccinations and a recent downturn in coronavirus numbers.

But Dr. Fauci said this is no time to lift restrictions. Though new cases and hospitalisations for Covid-19 are down across the country, he said, they have plateaued in recent days, and could go up if people are not careful.