Dr. Scott Gottlieb to Fox News: We’re Moving to a Place ‘Where Masks Become Optional’
Dr. Scott Gottlieb presented a positive outlook on mask requirements — and how they may soon abate — during a Wednesday morning appearance on Fox News.
Mask mandates have been a critical part of local municipalities trying to mitigate the spread of Covid-19, but they have also been controversial to a vocal, and sometimes angry, segment of the country.
In an interview on America’s Newsroom, Fox News host Dana Perino brought up masks and noted a Fox report on how the Emmy awards ceremony over the weekend drew bipartisan criticism because attendees didn’t wear, despite workers at the event being made to. “What is going on with all this confusion?” Perino asked, before adding “I get frustrated when I see staff that has to wear a mask in a restaurant when the rest of us don’t.”
“This is part of the challenge of the guidance from CDC,” Gottlieb replied. “It hasn’t been articulated in a way that we can make very practical use of it. When we should and shouldn’t be wearing masks. What the risk factors are that should trigger mask mandates in some cases.”
“We should be consistent first of all,” he continued, before making clear what the guidelines for masks should be, in his expertise:
In a high prevalence environment, particularly when you have vulnerable people, the use of masks can help protect individuals. If you’re one of those individuals trying to use a mask to reduce your risk I think it would be prudent. But you also need to remember that quality of mask matters. And a cloth mask isn’t going to afford an individual nearly as much protection as a level three procedure mask, and you’re going to get much more protection from an N-95 mask or a KN-95 mask. If you’re someone who wants to protect yourself because you feel you are at risk of Covid or are worried about getting an infection and maybe bringing it into the home to a young child, you should be looking at the quality of the mask as well.
Gottlieb went on to predict that mask mandates will begin to phase out.
“I think we’re going to move to a paradigm where masks become optional, encouraged in certain settings, and it’s going to be based on what the overall prevalence of infection is, and what the vaccination rate it, and whether or not you’re in an environment where there are vulnerable people.”
Gottlieb is the former chief of the FDA under Trump but left the administration before the coronavirus pandemic started. He now serves on the board of Pfizer, and is a frequent guest on a number of cable news programs but has rarely appeared on Fox News relative to CNBC, CNN and MSNBC. He is currently on a promotional tour for his new book, Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic.
Watch above via Fox News.
