WASHINGTON D.C. – In closed-door congressional testimony, former chief White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci admitted that federal social distancing guidance during the pandemic may not have been based on data.
He also acknowledged that the lab leak hypothesis of COVID-19’s origins is not a conspiracy theory. Fauci mentioned that the six-foot distancing rule “sort of just appeared” without clear data.
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He discussed these points during a seven-hour session before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. Fauci’s testimony raised concerns about the handling of dissenting opinions and the need for future pandemic responses to be guided by scientific facts and conclusive data.
Schools nationwide remained closed well into the second year of the pandemic as a result of the social distancing guidelines, which were disputed by both research studies and other health officials.
“It never struck me that six feet was particularly sensical in the context of mitigation,” Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health who served as President Biden’s COVID response coordinator for 15 months, told the New York Times in March 2021. “I wish the CDC would just come out and say this is not a major issue.”
