Healthcare

CDC Director Says It’s ‘Too Early To Tell’ If Biden’s Mask Mandates Are Delivering Results

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said Friday that it’s “probably too early to tell” if President Joe Biden’s mask mandates are yielding results.

“I think, it’s probably too early to reflect on what is happening with the mask order now because it’ll be, you know, we have a lot of things that have happened sort of at the same time,” Walensky said.

Walensky said cases are decreasing and the mask order is shielding people from the virus. The CDC director reiterated an MMWR report released Friday that showed hospital COVID-19 case rates decreased three weeks after mask orders were established in 10 states.

“But all of, what is also happening is that, you know, we are coming off of the case bump from the holidays. And so a lot of things are happening at once. We are going to be watching the mass data very carefully,” Walensky said.

“So I think it’s probably still a bit too early to tell, but I’m encouraged with the decrease in case rates right now,” Walensky continued.

Biden signed three executive orders on Jan. 20 and one orders people to wear masks and social distance on federal properties. The White House is weighing delivering masks to Americans, a move former President Donald Trump’s administration tossed after reviewing, three people familiar with the talks told NBC News on Thursday.

A White House official said the COVID-19 Response Team hasn’t decided on the move and is looking over the mechanics of sending millions of the face coverings, according to NBC News. The official said Biden hasn’t received the idea for the final say on the matter.