Americans are becoming increasingly concerned about Covid and other hospitalizations as a result of two years of pandemic.
“Not yet,” say both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and many infectious diseases experts.
The CDC recommended indoor masking last summer for communities that have at least 50 Covid cases per 100,000 people or a minimum of 8 percent test positivity.
The guidance has not been modified. As of Thursday, 99.9% U.S. county met the criteria for indoor concealment.
The CDC lists other factors that may help communities decide when to relax masking protocols.
In determining when to reduce masking, a CDC report dated July 2021 listed both vaccination coverage and the virus’s impact on local hospitals.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, Director of the CDC, acknowledged that Americans want to get rid of their masks. During Wednesday’s briefing by the White House Covid-19 Task Force, she stated that “we know people are anxious.”
She said that even though the number of new cases is down by more than three times compared to last week’s, hospitals are still overwhelmed with Covid cases due to the contagious micron variant. About 17,100 hospital admissions are averaged per day over seven days.
Walensky stated that “our hospitalization rates remain quite high”, adding that death and hospitalization data should also be important factors when determining whether or not mitigation guidance such as masking should be lifted.
Experts also suggest that metrics used to measure mask use should be applied to all areas of the country, not just the United States.
“We must think of it as a global disease,” said Dr. Pedro Piedra, who is a professor of molecular microbiology and virology at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston.
Piedra suggested that we also consider how well the rest of the world is vaccinated against Covid-19 so that there are no new viruses entering the U.S.
Piedra stated that while Piedra understood that the virus was not sent to them, she said that it is something that she and others are trying to do. It came and it has had a tremendous societal impact on the U.S., as well as in other countries in terms of hospitalizations and deaths.
One of the most striking examples of the global impact on the coronavirus’s influence is the dominance of the omicron version, which was discovered in southern Africa and became dominant in the U.S. in just one month.
According to the CDC, a subvariant of omicron called BA.2 has been identified in 1.5 percent of U.S. cases.
Walensky stated Wednesday that this is another reason why it might be premature for the U.S. not to lift all mitigation measures, including masking. According to her, Covid cases in countries with BA.2 are decreasing. However, they appear to be declining at a slower pace.
Walensky stated that this is partly why the U.S. keeps these measures in place at present, and added that many other countries are also relaxing Covid restrictions.
Vaccines that include boosters have been proven to reduce the risk of severe illness from Covid-19, even in the face of breakthrough infections from Omicron. CDC data shows that less than half of Americans are eligible for a booster shot.
Nevertheless, this is still higher than in many other countries, particularly low-income ones.
Dr. Ranu Dhillon is a global physician at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He stated that “vaccinating the entire world is not our priority.” “That’s the only way to stop new variants.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, stated Wednesday that masking in the U.S. is still part of the solution.
He said that although we cannot guarantee the existence of another variant, it is possible to prepare with the tools we have, including the vaccine, the testing and the masking.
Julia Raifman is an assistant professor at Boston University and a health policy researcher. She said that there is no quick solution to the pandemic.
She said, “This pandemic will be with us for long-term.” “We will have to deal with the continued surges caused by new variants, seasonality, and waning immunity.”
Raifman stated that masking is one of the best methods to stop the spread of the virus. We know what works
