As at least 11 states prepare to ease mask mandates due to decreasing levels of COVID-19, President Joe Biden thinks it is probably too early to do so.
“I think it’s probably premature, but it’s a tough call,” he said during an interview Thursday when Lester Holt of NBC News asked whether the “numerous governors from blue states,” planning to roll back mandates were wrong.
“Well, it’s hard to say whether they’re wrong,” said Biden. “Here’s – the science is saying now that masks work, masks make a difference.”
Indeed, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky still recommends wearing masks in indoor public spaces for places with high and substantial transmission of COVID-19.
She also said this week that “now is not the moment” to drop masking mandates.
Biden’s home state of Delaware is one of the states preparing to ease mandates this month, according to ABC News. California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington are also expected to relax mask mandates this month or next month. Massachusetts is the only state on the list with a Republican governor.
Of those states, New York and Nevada have already dropped mask mandates this week and Delaware was expected to end its mandate Friday.
Other states are planning to drop mandates later this month or in March.
According to the CDC, COVID-19 cases were down more than 53 percent nationwide Feb. 2 compared to a Jan. 15 peak. Starting around Thanksgiving, the highly contagious omicron variant of the virus caused a surge in cases.
This variant caused breakthrough infections in people who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but still prevented severe infection in most cases.
“Face masks combined with other preventive measures, such as getting vaccinated, frequent hand-washing and physical distancing, can help slow the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19,” according to the Mayo Clinic. Different types of masks offer different levels of protection from airborne droplets.
Biden acknowledged in his interview with Holt that the pandemic and surges caused by the delta and omicron variants have had “a profound impact of the psyche,” of American people since March 2020 and that mandates can be confusing,
However, he said that his administration keeps working to improve access to virus protection.
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