Dr. Fauci warns against Super Bowl parties to avoid superspreaders

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Dr. Anthony Fauci is warning against Super Bowl parties during the pandemic.
• The infectious disease expert is concerned that the Super Bowl will turn into a super spreader.
• Fauci’s advice on large parties: Don’t. He says Americans should “just lay low and cool it.”

Super Bowl LV is just days away. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has a warning for football fans who might be planning to have a big party after the game —Don’t.

On Wednesday, he advised the viewers of ABC’s “Good Morning America” to “Just lay low and cool it.”

On NBC’s “Today” show, he said: “As much fun as it is to get together in a big Super Bowl party, now is not the time to do that. Watch the game and enjoy it, but do it with your family or with people that are in your household.”

As of this writing, the US COVID-19 death toll is over 447,000. That’s according to data from Johns Hopkins University. And more than 26 million Americans have been infected.

Dr. Fauci told NBC: “Every time we do have something like this, there always is a spike, be it a holiday, Christmas, New Year’s, Thanksgiving.”

The infectious disease expert is aware that Super Bowl is a big deal in the US. He advises Americans to “Enjoy the game, watch it on television, but do it with the immediate members of your family, the people in your household.”

Dr. Amesh A. Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, couldn’t agree more..

“It’s basically like the holidays all over again,” he told Yahoo Life. “These are the same concerns we had for Thanksgiving and Christmas — people gathered together in small groups indoors.”

COVID-19 cases are surprisingly on the decline in many states but large gatherings remain a significant risk.

Fauci recommended wearing two masks if Americans decide to gather with people outside of their immediate family.

“I often get asked, should you be wearing two masks or one mask? And I say, there’s no recommendation, however, there are many people that take the common-sense approach,” Fauci said during a briefing by the White House COVID-19 response team. “There’s nothing wrong with wearing two masks. I often, myself, wear two masks.”

Source: Yahoo