Ahead of his address to Congress on Wednesday, reliable sources say Biden plans to give the nation an update on the coronavirus pandemic and announce updated guidance on mask-wearing from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to The Hill.
Three people familiar with the expected announcement said Biden will announce new CDC guidance on whether vaccinated people need to wear masks outdoors, although the final wording of the announcement is still being worked on.
CNN is reporting that sources are saying that the CDC’s mask guidance for fully vaccinated people will likely be relaxed while people are outdoors.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the administration’s top medical advisor, strongly hinted that the guidance would be updated this week, telling CNN’s Jim Acosta Sunday he didn’t want to get ahead of the CDC, but they “will be coming out with updating their guidelines of what people who are vaccinated can do and even some who are not vaccinated.”
“What I believe you’re going to be hearing, what the country is going to be hearing soon, is updated guidelines from the CDC,” Fauci told ABC’s Sunday program “This Week With George Stephanopoulos.” “The CDC is a science-based organization. They don’t want to make any guidelines unless they look at the data and the data backs it up.”
This move would go along with a November review in the Journal of Infectious Diseases that found that the odds of viral transmission are 18.7 times greater indoors than out, and less than 10 percent of Covid-19 infections studied occurred outside.
CNBC is reporting the CDC’s current guidelines state: that “masks may not be necessary when you are outside by yourself away from others, or with people who live in your household.”
“However, some areas may have mask mandates while out in public, so please check the rules in your local area (such as in your city, county, or state). Additionally, check whether any federal mask mandates apply to where you will be going,” the agency adds.
