Dr. Fauci: Wear goggles or eye shields to prevent spread of COVID-19; flu vaccine a must

The nation's top infectious disease expert spoke to ABC News live on Instagram.

By
Caterina Andreano
July 29, 2020, 2:26 PM
9 min read




2:30
What you need to know about Dr. Anthony FauciDr. Jen Ashton shares some facts you might not know about the acclaimed immunologist.Dr. Anthony Fauci suggested Wednesday that Americans should consider wearing goggles or a face shield in order to prevent spreading or catching COVID-19.

"If you have goggles or an eye shield, you should use it," the nation's top infectious disease expert told ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton during an Instagram Live conversation on ABC News.

When asked if we're going to get to a point where eye protection is recommended, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases responded, "It might, if you really want perfect protection of the mucosal surfaces."

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

He noted that goggles and eye or face shields are "not universally recommended" at this time, "but if you really want to be complete, you should probably use it if you can