On April 7, Facebook user Gocha Chumashvili shared a video, where the head of the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC), Dr. Fauci says that he will not take the COVID-19 test. Fauci lists the lack of symptoms and the practice of social distancing as reasons for it. At the end of the post, Gocha Chumashvili warns friends not to get tested.
The video disseminated by Gocha Chumashvili is misleading. The video was recorded at the beginning of the pandemic, on March 15, 2020, and is disseminated without the date. The video only partially depicts Fauci’s position. At the end of his answer, Fauci states that he would get tested, in case of a risk.
Anthony Fauci made a statement about the coronavirus testing as a guest on CNN at the beginning of the pandemic, on March 15, 2020. To the question, whether he was planning to get tested or not, he answered that he had no symptoms and was practicing social distancing but he would get a test in case of a risk:
Anthony Fauci, March 15, 2020: “I have no symptoms, there is no reason for me to take a test, I am practicing pretty good social distancing, if I am in a situation, where I am at a higher risk, I will take a test”.
On April 5, 2020, not long after this comment, Fauci stated that he took the COVID-19 test and it was negative.
In May 2020, Fauci got tested for coronavirus again when one of his team members got infected. Fauci tested negative again, but he was still self-isolated.
It should be noted, that in March 2020, at the time when Fauci made the comment about testing, disseminated by Gocha Chumashvili, not a lot was known about the asymptomatic spread of COVID-19, nor the need for mass-testing. Anthony Fauci himself stated in one of his speeches in November, 2020, that he should have been much more vocal with the government about COVID-19 testing as a preventive measure early in the pandemic and that mass testing should have been held in those U.S locations that experienced the onset of COVID-19 outbreak.
Disinformation about coronavirus testing has been fact-checked by “Myth Detector” numerous times:
The article has been written in the framework of Facebook’s fact-checking program. You can read more about the restrictions that Facebook may impose based on this article via this link. You can find information about appealing or editing our assessment via this link.
Read detailed instructions for editing the article.
Read detailed appeal instructions.
