Biden to announce new CDC mask guidelines on Tuesday, sources say



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Before his first speech to Congress on Wednesday, the president will deliver remarks on the state of the pandemic on Tuesday. The three people close to the expected announcement said Biden will announce new CDC guidelines on whether those vaccinated should wear masks outside, although the final language of the expected announcement is still not clear.

One of Biden’s top coronavirus advisers, Dr Anthony Fauci, strongly hinted that the advice would be updated this week, telling CNN’s Jim Acosta on Sunday that he didn’t want to get ahead of the CDC, but that they “will be coming out with updated guidelines on what people who have been vaccinated and even some unvaccinated people can do.”

A November review in the Journal of Infectious Diseases found that the chances of viral transmission are 18.7 times higher indoors than outdoors and that less than 10% of Covid-19 infections studied are produced outside. Despite this, several states still have outdoor mask mandates in place.

The CDC currently recommends that those who have been fully vaccinated wear a mask and stay six feet from others in public, when meeting with unvaccinated people from more than one other household, and when visiting an unvaccinated person who is at increased risk of serious illness. illness or death due to Covid-19 or living with someone at increased risk.

People are considered fully vaccinated by the CDC two weeks after the second dose of Pfizer / BioNTech or Moderna vaccines or two weeks after Johnson & Johnson’s single dose vaccine.

The expected update to the mask guidelines will come as more Americans get vaccinated – about 229 million doses have been administered in the United States, according to the CDC – and Biden nears its 100th day in function.

Biden began his presidency by asking Americans to wear masks for 100 days and signed an executive order requiring their use on federal property. The ordinance requires masks and physical distancing in federal buildings, on federal lands, and by government contractors, and urges states and local governments to do the same.

White House officials and medical experts, including Fauci, have repeatedly called on the public to wear masks and practice social distancing to stop the spread of the virus.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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