Fauci ‘not sure’ why Texas doesn’t have COVID uptick after nixing masks

TX – It’s been some five weeks since Texas lifted its mask mandate, and there has yet to be an explosion of COVID-19 cases.

It’s something Dr. Anthony Fauci can’t quite explain.

“I’m not really quite sure,” he told MSNBC this week. “It could be they’re doing things outdoors.”

Daily cases in Texas hovered above 7,000 in early March, when Gov. Greg Abbott lifted the state’s mask rules, leaving it up to individuals and organizations to make their own decisions.

Now, according to the Centers for Disease Control, new cases of COVID-19 are under 4,000.

Fauci noted there can be a delay in how and when cases manifest.

“Often you have to wait a few weeks before you see the effect of what you’re doing right now,” he said.

“I hope they continue to tick down. If they do, that would be great but there’s always the concern when you pull back on methods — particularly on things like indoor dining and bars that are crowded — you could see a delay and then all of a sudden tick right back up,” he said.

“We’ve been fooled before by situations where people begin to open back up. Nothing happens and then all of a sudden several weeks later things explode on you, so we’ve got to be careful we don’t prematurely judge that,” he added.

President Biden had slammed the decision to ease the state’s mask mandate as “neanderthal thinking.”