In the past week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) radically altered its position on masks, issuing new guidelines in the wake of increased media reports regarding the Delta variant. Specifically, the CDC called for all Americans to wear masks indoors, whether or not they were vaccinated.
According to the CDC, wearing masks indoors serves “to maximize protection from the Delta variant,” as well as to “prevent possibly spreading [the variant] to others,” especially in areas of “high” or “substantial” transmission risk.
In addition, the CDC also emphasized that wearing a mask was especially important for individuals with “a weakened immune system” or individuals who are “at increased risk for severe disease,” which includes the “unvaccinated.”
The CDC also noted that families “might choose to wear a mask regardless of the level of transmission” in their respective areas, which means that families in areas with remarkably low transmission of the virus may opt to continue wearing masks anyway.
The latest guidance from CDC marks a dramatic reversal from just two months ago. In May, the CDC proclaimed that it is no longer necessary fro vaccinated individuals to wear a mask.
However, Michael Osterholm, who serves as the Policy Director for the University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research, recently stunned the public with his commentary on masks. Osterholm, who is also a Biden advisor, made an appearance on CNN, wherein he proclaimed that neither paper nor cloth masks are effective at stopping the spread of the virus.
https://twitter.com/TrumpJew2/status/1422236501589512195?
While Osterholm’s commentary may come as a surprise for CNN viewers, the fact that paper and cloth masks are ineffectual has been known for well over a year. For instance, Dr. Fauci informed Sylvia Burwell, the former Secretary of Health and Human Services under Obama, that masks purchased in stores, primarily cloth and paper masks, have a limited effect in halting the spread of the disease.
However, Fauci made this admission in a private email dated on February 5, 2020, namely when he said that the “typical mask” procured in a drug store tends to be “not really effective in keeping out [the] virus,” as the virus is generally “small enough to pass through the material.”
Fauci continued onwards to note that cloth and paper masks “might” give “some slight benefit” by “[keeping] out gross droplets if someone coughs or sneezes on you,” adding, “I do not recommend you wear a mask.”
