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What’s happening: Social media users skeptical of health authorities claim that Dr. Anthony Fauci — formerly the government’s top infectious disease official and a favorite target of health hoaxsters — is calling for the return of face masks and social distancing in response to the hantavirus outbreak. Fauci told NewsGuard that he has said no such thing.
Context: As of May 13, 2026, a hantavirus outbreak on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius had sickened 11 people, including three who died, according to the World Health Organization. Officials have not determined how the outbreak on the ship began.
Fauci, who led the U.S. government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2022, was a favorite punching bag of critics of the U.S. response to COVID-19. Indeed, he previously has been the target of 15 false claims related to public health identified by NewsGuard. Among them: An accusation advanced by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that Fauci would profit from a COVID-19 vaccine; that Fauci ordered all unvaccinated people to be “locked down;” and that the New Zealand government charged Fauci with thousands of counts of negligent homicide.
A closer look: Amid the hantavirus outbreak, social media users claim that Fauci is calling for face masks and social...
By Olivia GomesMay 18, 20260 comments WASHINGTON — A new analysis published by The Atlantic argues that election denial movements once viewed as politically fringe are becoming increasingly embedd...