On CNN’s “Outfront” broadcast Monday, Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), ranking member of the Select Subcommittee on COVID-19, acknowledged there was no basis for instituting the six-foot social distancing guideline during the COVID-19 pandemic, but defended the guideline because “we were forced to pick an arbitrary number to make it easier for people to understand the concept of social distancing.”
host Erin Burnett asked.[Fauci] We talked about the areas where he made concessions. For example, Congressman, he acknowledged that the six-foot distancing rule has no scientific basis. He acknowledged that the vaccination mandate may have had a negative impact. But do you think he did the best he could?
Lewis said, “I think he did the best he could as he was assessing the situation as it progressed and thousands of people have died from this new virus. He explained the situation to us early on, and as we had more data, we were able to adjust. Now, let’s back up for a second. Republicans have attacked the lack of data on six feet social distancing and tried to attack the basic public health principle of social distancing when an aerosolized or droplet-transmitted virus comes out of someone’s mouth. We don’t need data to prove that jumping out of a plane without a parachute will kill you. So we know that if you’re far enough away from someone who can inhale aerosolized droplets or cough or sneeze, it will kill you.[s]”This is a safe distance from the sun, so you don’t get droplets or aerosolized virus in your eyes, nose, or mouth. Now, the question is, was there any evidence to show six feet or 10 feet or 50 yards or three feet? And the answer is no. So they had to pick an arbitrary number to help people understand the concept of social distancing.”
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