In a recent interview with ABC News, Anthony Fauci denied any responsibility for school closures and he claimed that he had repeatedly called for schools to stay open as long as possible. “No one plays that clip,” he insisted. “They always come back and say, ‘Fauci was responsible for closing schools.’ I had nothing to do with it. I mean, let’s get down to the facts.”
His claim that he had nothing to do with nationwide school lockdowns or that he is not in any way to blame for loss in learning among public school students that followed the switch to virtual learning is delusional.
“Mr. Science” can’t get away with this fantasy — certainly not as he now warns of two new Covid omicron variants that are “pretty troublesome” and spreading quickly.
On March 12, 2020, for example, he said, “One thing I do advise … is mitigation. And what was done when you close the schools is mitigation.”
On April 12 replying to Florida Governor DeSantis for remarks wanting to get schools open as soon as possible, Fauci responded by saying that opening the schools would get children infected with the coronavirus. “If you have a situation where you don’t have real good control over an outbreak and you allow children together, they will likely get infected.” Fauci insisted.
When medical doctor and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), said that the data indicated that children were not at risk of severe COVID complications, Fauci warned: “I think we better be careful that we’re not cavalier, in thinking that children are completely immune to the deleterious effects.”
Fauci tries to have it both ways. Even as he denies having anything to do with school closures, he stood by claims that it was the right thing to do because it saved lives. “The idea that this virus doesn’t afflict children is not so,” he told ABC News. “We’ve already lost close to 1,500 kids so far.”
Fauci’s number is based on a May 2022 study claiming that COVID was responsible for 1,433 deaths among persons 19 and younger. Critics pointed out that the authors had wrongly counted hundreds who had died with COVID, but not from COVID.
Besides the dramatic drop in reading, writing and arithmetic skills, the social isolation also harmed kids, and some now have mental health issues as a result.
Fauci was asked about whether school lockdowns were harmful, “Particularly for kids who couldn’t go to school except remotely, that it’s forever damaged them?”
Fauci responded, “I don’t think it’s forever irreparably damaged anyone.”
Tell that to the kids who committed suicide, who went over a year with no school or social interaction and suffered severe learning losses that will stunt their lives and shorten their lifespans.
America’s longest serving medical bureaucrat announced in August that he would be leaving at the end of the year. As he exits public life, he is attempting to rewrite history to indemnify himself. ◆
