Fauci says masks on planes will always be necessary no matter what: 'Go that extra step'
Fauci also said vaccinated individuals don't need to isolate after possible exposure
Hodges Capital Management CEO Craig Hodges and National Securities Managing Director Art Hogan react on 'The Claman Countdown.'
Dr. Anthony Fauci does not believe the pandemic will reach a state in which Americans can go without masks in closed spaces, even with good filtration.
Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly told a U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday that "masks don’t add much, if anything" in fighting the spread of COVID-19 on airplanes.
Gary Kelly, CEO of Southwest Airlines Co., speaks during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing in Washington on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
In a direct rebuke of Kelly’s comments, Fauci told ABC’s "This Week" that he doesn’t believe the pandemic will reach a state in which masks will be unnecessary – especially for closed spaces.
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When asked point blank if he thought there might be a point where masks are unnecessary on airplanes, he said "I don’t think so."
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks with reporters at the White House on Jan. 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
"I think when you're dealing with a closed space, even though the filtration is good that you want to go that extra step," Fauci argued. "When you have people, you know you get a flight from Washington to San Francisco, it's a well over a five hour flight."
"Even though you have a good filtration system, I still believe that masks are a prudent thing to do and we should be doing it," he added.
A JAL flight attendant wearing a mask talks with a passenger on board a flight from Haneda to Fukuoka on June 15, 2020. (Tadayuki YOSHIKAWA/Aviation Wire/AFLO / Reuters Photos)
The question of indoor safety during the pandemic has come to the front again with Christmas only a week away and New Year’s shortly after that.
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Fauci did say on NBC’s "Meet the Press" that testing for vaccinated individuals don’t need to isolate in the event they come in contact with a COVID-infected individual.
"If you are vaccinated and you get exposed, you don’t need to isolate yourself," Fauci said. "Some people, and I think it would be prudent to wind up getting tested."
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He explained that testing just a few days later would help show whether a breakthrough infection occurred.
FOX Business's Breck Dumas contributed to this report.