Dr. Fauci suggests Americans wear goggles to protect against coronavirus

It’s not enough for Dr. Anthony Fauci that Americans are being forced to wear masks to protect them from coronavirus. Now, he wants them to wear goggles as well…for added protection.

“If you have goggles or an eye shield, you should use it,” Fauci told ABC News on Wednesday.

When asked if eye protection like goggles will become an official recommendation at some point, Fauci said, “it might, if you really want perfect protection of the mucosal surfaces.”

Fauci, who is a member of the White House pandemic task force and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, went on to explain his reasoning behind recommending eye protection.

“You have mucosa in the nose, mucosa in the mouth, but you also have mucosa in the eye,” he said. “Theoretically, you should protect all the mucosal surfaces. So if you have goggles or an eye shield you should use it.”

Fauci went on to explain that while goggles and eye or face shields are “not universally recommended” at this time, “if you really want to be complete, you should probably use it if you can.”

He later discussed when people should get tested if they think they have been exposed to COVID-19, given the fact that there are no official guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on this situation.

“That question came up at the task force meeting yesterday and we asked the same thing and we said there’s no real recommendation,” Fauci said.

“I would think that five [days] is good. I might even go a day or so early because the incubation period of when you get symptoms is about five days,” he continued, adding that the window is “no earlier than three [days] or no later than five or six.”

Fauci also said that he remains hopeful that wearing masks will limit the spread of the flu in the fall.

“It is inevitable that we’re going to have some degree of flu,” he said. “I’m hoping that the wearing of masks and other coverings are going to not only protect us against COVID-19, but also help protect us against influenza.”