WATCH: Fauci calls forcing children to wear masks outside 'conservative'

When asked if forcing kids as young as 2 to wear masks outside at summer camps was excessive Fauci said it was actually "conservative."

Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared on the Today Show and was asked if the CDC guidelines around children's summer camps were inline with "following the science." The host, Savannah Guthrie points out that transmission is less likely outdoors, "the low risk of serious illness in children" and the fact that kids will be forced to wear masks while "in 90 degree heat running around" even though they are at far less risk than adults.

In response, Fauci said that "I wouldn’t call them excessive, I would say they’re conservative." According to Guthrie, the CDC guidelines for summer camps state that "masks must be worn at all times even outdoors by everyone including vaccinated adults and children as young as 2 years-old and summer campers should stay 3-feet apart even outdoors."

Fauci said that the CDC continues to evaluate the guidelines daily to ensure that they are current and practical. Guthrie pushes back by saying "the science doesn't suggest those guidelines are too sensible" which gets a laugh out of Fauci. This is as the CDC released new guidelines that says vaccinated people no longer have to wear masks outdoors in some scenarios.

A infectious decease scientist who spoke to New York Magazine under the condition of anonymity said, "masking kids at camp outdoors is simply virtue signalling. Requiring kids to continuously wear masks at camps, even while outside playing in the heat, when it provides little additional protection is unfair and cruel to our children. Considering that children are at incredibly low risk for developing severe illness, the minimal benefits of mask wearing do not outweigh the substantial costs of discouraging children to be active and their overall health."

The CDC has been criticized for its strict guidelines for children during the pandemic who seem to be at little to no risk of serious complications from COVID-19. In total, less than 200 kids have died of COVID-19 in the United States, most with co-morbidity factors.