“We must consider hospital capacity as an additional important barometer,” Walensky told the public Wednesday in a White House COVID-19 update.
“We want to give people pause for things like wearing masks when these indicators are better, and then have the ability to access them if things go wrong,” the CDC chief was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency. get worse.
Federal law requires people to wear masks on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation.
As new infections from the Omicron variant drop rapidly from their peak in January, authorities in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Oregon have announced that they are easing restrictions face mask requirements indoors, while some cities and school districts are keeping their mandates in place.
Meanwhile, Walt Disney Co. is waiving the requirement to wear a mask for fully vaccinated visitors at theme parks in Florida and California, beginning Thursday.
The change comes as Covid-19 cases decline in many parts of the country and as major employers including Amazon, Tyson Foods and Walmart waive face coverings for vaccinated workers. strains.
Disney cited “recent trends and regulatory guidance” in easing its pandemic-related rules. It requires no proof of vaccinations to enter its park.
People will still have to wear masks on shuttles, buses and other “closed” forms of transportation at parks, it added.
After weeks of back and forth, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, signed into law on Wednesday a bill that would effectively prevent mask-wearing regulations in schools by giving fathers Parents have the right to exempt their children from wearing masks without giving a reason.
Also Wednesday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and House Representative Beth Van Duyne, both Republicans, filed a lawsuit against the Joe Biden administration to end the order to wear masks on planes, alleging The order imposes “restrictions on the freedom of travelers” and CDC has no authority to make such a general precaution.
The lawsuit is the latest in a series of state efforts to challenge Covid-19 safety measures in court.
The state is locked in a number of legal battles with cities, counties and school districts over masks in public schools.
Texas has also sued the Biden administration over federal mandates on vaccines for healthcare workers, federal contractors and large businesses.
Source: IANS
