Dr. Fauci Says He “Doesn’t Understand” Why Some States Haven’t Issued Stay-at-Home Orders

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who is the chief health expert on the White House coronavirus task force, says he “doesn’t understand” why every state hasn’t ordered its residents to stay home amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“I don’t understand why that’s not happening,” he said, adding that the states should “really consider” issuing stay-at-home orders as the number of cases continues to mount.

“You know, the tension between federally mandated versus states’ rights to do what they want is something I don’t want to get into,” he said. “But if you look at what’s going on in this country, I just don’t understand why we’re not doing that.”

Fauci also advised against relaxing guidelines on social distancing, considered essential to curbing the virus’s spread.

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“If you back off, and you don’t mitigate, there is a possibility that number [of deaths] will go up,” he said. “And that is the worst possible thing in the world you want to see. And that’s the reason why I am so adamant about when we say we have got to follow those guidelines, you really got to take it seriously.”

You can watch footage of Dr. Fauci’s remarks below:

The states that have yet to issue stay-at-home orders are:

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Iowa
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• North Dakota
• Oklahoma
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Utah
• Wyoming

The novel coronavirus has claimed the lives of at least 6,098 Americans since the first death in the United States was recorded on February 29.

Alan Herrera

Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.