Fauci warns against Super Bowl parties: 'Just lay low and cool it'

With Super Sunday just four days away, Dr. Anthony Fauci has a warning for football fans who might be planning a big Super Bowl party amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic: Don’t.

“Just lay low and cool it,” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.

“As much fun as it is to get together in a big Super Bowl party, now is not the time to do that,” Fauci said on NBC’s “Today” show. “Watch the game and enjoy it, but do it with your family or with people that are in your household.”

More than 447,000 Americans have died from complications related to COVID-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. And more than 26 million have been infected.

“Every time we do have something like this, there always is a spike, be it a holiday, Christmas, New Year’s, Thanksgiving,” Fauci said on NBC. “As you mentioned, Super Bowl is a big deal in the United States. Enjoy the game, watch it on television, but do it with the immediate members of your family, the people in your household.”

Dr. Anthony Fauci speaks during a briefing at the White House on Jan. 21. (Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
Dr. Anthony Fauci speaks during a briefing at the White House on Jan. 21. (Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Dr. Amesh A. Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, agreed.

“It’s basically like the holidays all over again,” Adalja told Yahoo Life. “These are the same concerns we had for Thanksgiving and Christmas — people gathered together in small groups indoors.”

While COVID-19 positivity rates are on the decline across much of the U.S., large gatherings remain a significant risk.

If you do decide to gather with people outside of your immediate family, Fauci said it would be a good idea to wear two masks.

“I often get asked, should you be wearing two masks or one mask? And I say, there’s no recommendation, however, there are many people that take the common-sense approach,” Fauci said during a briefing by the White House COVID-19 response team. “There’s nothing wrong with wearing two masks. I often, myself, wear two masks.”

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