Fmr Acting CDC Chief Says He’s ‘Really Worried’ About TX Lifting Covid Restrictions: ‘Playing With Fire’

Former CDC director Dr. Richard Besser said Tuesday he has serious concerns about Texas’ decision to lift a number of covid restrictions next week.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced earlier that he is going to end the statewide mask mandate and said it’s “time to open Texas 100 percent.”

Besser told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto the move is “really concerning.”

He said he’s optimistic about how the vaccine rollout is going so far, but flagged ongoing concerns about variants and emphasized the need to continue wearing masks.

“If we follow the guidance of public health on this, we will all get back to getting our economy running in a safe and sustainable way, rather than seeing kind of the seesaw of spikes in disease that will again lead to further shutdowns,” Besser said.

Regarding the lifting of the mask mandate in particular, he said, “By saying it’s optional to wear a mask, it’s putting hard-working Americans at risk. People that they’ll be in contact with who may be infected and may not know it. It could lead them to take that infection home. Even if they’re healthy, there could be someone at home that is older who’s at greater risk. I’m really worried.”

Besser even went so far as to say, “It’s playing with fire here, when you remove some of these public health measures that we know have been so effective in places that have done them uniformly.”

You can watch above, via Fox News.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!