Dr. Fauci: 'I don't understand' why there's not a stay-at-home order in every state

Dr. Anthony Fauci
(Image credit: Mandel Ngan / Getty Images)

Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, thinks every U.S. state should have a stay-at-home order amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Fauci, member of President Trump's coronavirus task force, spoke to CNN's Anderson Cooper on Thursday and was asked if it "makes sense to you" that some U.S. states still don't have stay-at-home orders, with Cooper saying, "Doesn't everybody have to be on the same page with this stuff?" Fauci agreed with that notion.

"I think so, Anderson," Fauci said. "I don't understand why that's not happening."

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Fauci went on to say he didn't want to get into "the tension between federally mandated vs. states' rights to do what they want" but argued, "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."

Trump has resisted a nationwide stay-at-home order, saying Wednesday, "we have to have a little bit of flexibility," per CNN. U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said earlier this week, though, that the federal government's social distancing guidelines, which Trump recently extended until the end of April, should be looked at as a "national stay-at-home order." Brendan Morrow

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.