He does favor one over another: Dr. Fauci: On March 15, during a tour of that Sunday morning’s political talk shows, Fauci called for a federal directive to shut down restaurants nationwide for 14 days. He also spoke of the dangers of eating in restaurants. As states around the country begin to ease stay-at-home orders, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said churches should adopt “common sense” measures to protect worshippers and the wider community, like requiring masks, practicing social distancing and prohibiting singing. Yet he can't talk about protests (riots), specifically.