AURN News with Ebony McMorris, COVID-19 Updates, News

New CDC Mask Mandate Creates Debate and Confusion

Ebony McMorris
May 17, 2021

FILE - In this Friday, March 5, 2021 file photo, a restaurant worker holds his face mask in Biloxi, Miss. On Friday, March 12, 2021, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly asserting a new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that mask mandates have a negligible impact on coronavirus numbers. Those claims distort the findings, according to CDC scientist Gery Guy Jr., the study's lead author. “Each day that growth rate is going down, the cumulative effect — in terms of cases and deaths — adds up to be quite substantial,” Guy told the AP in a previous report. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

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This was the first weekend Americans were given the green light from the CDC to go without a mask if they were fully vaccinated.

Dr. Ashish Jha, Dean of Brown University School of Public Health, appeared on ABC Good Morning America recommended waiting to lift the new guidelines until more Americans are vaccinated.

I think states should hold until 6/15 to lift indoor mask mandates

Why?

Is it because fully vaccinated folks are at risk if they go maskless?

No

Do vaccinated people spread the virus? Not really

So why? and why 6/15?

Mainly because of when vaccines became available

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— Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH (@ashishkjha) May 17, 2021

Dr. Anthony Fauci agreed with the new updates and said the CDC is trying to keep up with new data.

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White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris is a native Washingtonian and University of South Carolina alumna. Her passion is mentoring young adults by teaching community empowerment and media education. She is an NAB member and board member of the Thurgood Marshall Center and was presented the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for contributing more than 4,000 hours of community service under the Obama Administration.