Buffalo, NY, (WBEN) - If you're vaccinated and you're outside, do you still need to wear a mask? With warmer weather on the way, a growing number of people are asking that question.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is looking into adjusting its guidance on wearing masks outdoors. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky indicated this week that the agency is considering revising its mask guidance. "We'll be looking at the outdoor masking question, but also in the context of the fact that we still have people who are dying of Covid-19."
"The cases are still a little high, but we're getting close," said Dr Tom Russo, Chief of Infectious Disease at the University at Buffalo's Jacobs School of Medicine.
"I'm feeling optimistic here in Western New York that cases are going to start to head downward and we know the virus spreads much less readily in an outdoor setting." Russo says it's not bulletproof to be outdoors if people are clustered for long periods of time. He expects outdoor masking to be the first public health measure to be dialed-back.
Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, and ABC News contributor, said "We know that the virus largely spreads indoors and there's very little transmission outdoors, except in specific circumstances. But at this point in the pandemic, with more than half of American adults vaccinated, it's pretty reasonable to start thinking about peeling back outdoor mask mandates."
Health experts are hoping the CDC will more clearly identity high-risk situations when masks are truly needed.
Dr. Todd Ellerin, Chief of Infectious Disease at Southshore Health in Weymouth, Massachusetts offers this advice, based on current C-D-C guidelines. "If you're in a crowded area, where you can't distance, especially if you're unvaccinated, maybe you're with someone who may be high risk across the table, from you in a short range, I still think there will be a place for masking outside but in most situations I think we're going to be able to rip off the mask."
Thirteen states that had mask mandates, have lifted them. Ten by gubernatorial order (Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Texas and Wyoming), two by legislative action (Kansas and Utah) and one by court order (Wisconsin).
The US hit a major milestone this week. 200 million shots in arms.
The positivity rate in Western New York, as of Friday, was 4.2%
