Dr. Anthony Fauci Says Stay-At-Home Order Should Be Extended To All 50 States

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious disease doctor, said he thinks every state in the nation should have stay-at-home orders to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Currently, 10 states don't have a stay-at-home mandate. 

Fauci, who appears regularly at the White House's daily Coronavirus Task Force briefings, made his remarks Thursday during a CNN town hall after host Anderson Cooper asked him if it made sense "scientifically" to have all states under the same orders.

"You know, the tension between federally mandated versus states' rights to do what they want is something I don't want to get into," Fauci said. "If you look at what's going on in this country, I just don't understand why we're not doing that. We really should be. I don't understand why that's not happening."

Fauci backed the idea as calls to extend such measures to the entire country have gotten louder this week. President Trump has extended social distancing guidelines for the nation through April 30, but they are not binding, and so far he has resisted pressure to issue a federal order. Vice President Mike Pence said earlier this week in a briefing that Mr. Trump wants those decisions to be up to the states. 

"We continue to hear about the data that they're analyzing and consult with them," Pence said Tuesday. "But at the president's direction, the White House Coronavirus Task Force will continue to take the posture that we will defer to state and local health authorities on any measures that they deem appropriate.

"For the next 30 days, this is what we believe every American in every state should be doing, at a minimum, to slow the spread."

Many Americans are already under stay-at-home orders imposed by their governors or county or city leaders. However, even that may not be enough. The White House task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said officials are worried current social-distancing guidelines still aren't being taken seriously enough. Even with such efforts, officials estimate that between 100,000 and 240,000 Americans are likely to die from the disease.

First published on April 3, 2020 / 3:11 PM

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