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As President Biden announced he's bumping up his deadline by two weeks for states to make all adults in the U.S. eligible for coronavirus vaccines, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned "it's premature to declare victory." (April 6) AP Domestic

On March 2, Texas Gov. Greg Abbottissued an executive order that wouldofficiallylift the requirement that Texans wear masks in public and authorizeall businesses to operate at full capacity on March 10. As reasoning, he pointed tothe decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations that occurred in February and the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.

Health experts warned that because less than 30% of Texans had antibodies from a previous infection or vaccine, loosening restrictions could cause cases to increase again.Dr. James McDeavitt, dean of clinical affairs at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, told CBS Austin on March 3 that Texas could see an increase in cases within two to six weeks.

Aboutthree weeks after the executive order went into effect, Mediaite posted an article about comments made by Dr. Anthony Fauci in an interview on MSNBC.

The headline said "Fauci Says Hes Not Quite Sure Why Covid Cases Are Dropping in Texas After Mitigation Restrictions Were Lifted."Young Americans for Liberty, a libertarian political action group, posteda screenshot of the headlineon its Facebook page on April 7, garnering over 2,200 reactions. USA TODAY reached out to the poster for comment.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, seated at left, speaks to state Rep. Dustin Burrows table in Montelongos Mexican Restaurant in Lubbock, where Abbott announced he is rescinding a statewide mask mandate and capacity limits.(Photo: Justin Rex/Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)

Some commenters asserted that masks, and mask mandates, are ineffective at preventing COVID-19.

"Because lock downs and masks dont work!!!!! No proof," one commenter wrote.

"Maybe because by being exposed, PEOPLE ARE BUILDING THEIR NATURAL IMMUNITY. Science,"another commenter wrote.

One commenter even claimed that lifting the mandate actually decreased the risk of infection: "Surely it doesn't have anything to do with people not constantly rebreathing the toxins their body is trying to expel," he wrote.

USA TODAY has previously reported the CDC has found mask mandates causedCOVID-19 cases to declineand that masks and vaccines slow the spread of the disease.

A view of the fans and the stands during the playing of the Canadian and U.S. national anthems before the game between the Texas Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays at Globe Life Field. The Rangers opened their stadium for 100% attendance, the first such sporting event since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.(Photo: Jerome Miron, USA TODAY Sports)

Mediaite's April 6 article covered an interview featuringFauci on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

In theinterview, Fauci said that he"wasn't sure" why COVID-19 cases were in decline in Texas because there could be multiple factors.

There are a lot of things thatgo into case numbers decreasing," he said. "When you say that theyve had alot of the activity ... outside, like ballgames, Im notreally quite sure.It could be theyre doing thingsoutdoors.Its very difficult to one onone compare that.You just have to see in the longrange.I hope they continue to tickdown.If they do, that would be great."

The Facebook post could be construedas implying a causal link between Texas' lockdown ending and COVID-19 cases decreasing.

In theinterview, Fauci said three weeks is too early to know the result of Abbott's executive order.

Yeah, you know, it can be confusing. Youmay see a lag and a delay,because often, you have to waita few weeks before you see theeffect of what youre doingright now,"Fauci said."Weve been fooled before bysituations where people begin toopen back up, nothing happens,and all of a sudden, several weeks later,things (hospitalizations, case numbers, etc.)start exploding on you. Soweve got to be careful we dont prematurely judge that."

A group of people gather to burn masks along the JFK Memorial Causeway in honor of the end of the statewide mask mandate across Texas on Wednesday, March 10, 2021.(Photo: Courtney Sacco, Corpus Christi Caller-Times)

We rate this claim MISSING CONTEXT, because without additional information it could be misleading. Fauci said he was unsure about why COVID-19 cases were decreasing in Texas despite the removal of state-mandated precautions, but he added that it istoo early to know the results of the executive order and because many factors can contribute to case numbersoutside of state policies on mask-wearing.

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Fact check: Fauci says it's too early to know results of eased COVID-19 restrictions in Texas - USA TODAY