CDC Chief: No Change to Mask Rules Yet, But ‘We Anticipate’ New Guidance in Late Feb or Early March

Dr. Rochelle Walensky revealed that the Centers for Disease Control has no immediate plans to change mask policy but did share anticipating of new guidance in the coming weeks.

The CDC director held a Covid briefing with fellow health officials on Wednesday, and it was Mediaite’s own Tommy Christopher who noted that several states around the country led by Democratic governors have begun rolling back masking mandates. This comes as Walensky and President Joe Biden both warned it’s too early to do away with mask mandates.

Christopher addressed the media pressure on the CDC amid these changes, then asked “could you talk about the timelines for some of these state rate rules as you understand them, and how they could coincide with the CDC deliberations?” Walensky answered by suggesting a change in the CDC’s mask guidelines is not far away.

So maybe just to say many of these state-based policies have come out in phased approaches that they are talking about, you know, something that might happen in a week or two. Masks that might come off in a week or two at the end of February, early March. And so of course, our metrics are going to examine, as Jeff said, and as I previously said, issues related to cases, certainly issues related to severity of disease and hospital capacity. And we anticipate that many of these will intersect in terms of timing.

Walensky’s answer comes after she spoke optimistically about the country’s Covid case trajectory, but even though she acknowledged the country’s pandemic fatigue, she said the CDC is waiting for rates to further decline before changing their public safety guidance.

Our emergency departments can’t be so overwhelmed that patients with emergent issues have to wait in line. We are assessing the most important factors based on where we are in the pandemic, and will soon put guidance in place that is relevant and encourages prevention measures when they are most needed to protect public health and our hospitals. We want to give people a break from things like mask wearing when these metrics are better, and then have the ability to reach for them again should things worsen, if and when we update our guidance, we will communicate that clearly, and it will be based on the data and the science.

Watch above, via CSPAN and ABC News.