Officials suggest time may be coming to relax indoor face mask mandates as vaccinations increase

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Mon, 2021-05-10 10:19 — mike kraft

It may be time to relax indoor face mask mandates, Fauci says Dr. Anthony Fauci says federal guidance on wearing face coverings indoors may change soon. Lauren Mascarenhas and Christina Maxouris, CNN CNN

(CNN) Dr. Anthony Fauci says federal guidance on wearing face coverings indoors may change soon.

Sunday on ABC News, Fauci was asked whether it's time to start relaxing indoor masks requirements. Fauci replied, "I think so, and I think you're going to probably be seeing that as we go along, and as more people get vaccinated."

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be updating its guidance almost in real time, as more Americans get vaccinated, said Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The CDC relaxed its guidance last month on wearing masks outdoors, but still advises both vaccinated and unvaccinated people to still wear masks in indoor public spaces, such as a mall, movie theater or museum.

"We do need to start being more liberal, as we get more people vaccinated," he added.

Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation," Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, said face mask requirements should be relaxed now that the Covid-19 risk is dropping.

"Certainly outdoors, we shouldn't be putting limits on gatherings anymore," Gottlieb said. "The states where prevalence is low, vaccination rates are high, and we have good testing in place, we're identifying infections, I think we could start lifting these restrictions indoors as well, on a broad basis."

Lifting pandemic restrictions when they are no longer necessary will make it easier for public health officials to reimplement them if cases rise again, such as a potential winter surge, Gottlieb said. ...

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