Rationale exists to keep masking indoors, expert says
Over the past 15 months, face masking has proven its value as an intervention against the transmission of COVID-19, says Dr. John Lynch, medical director of infection control and prevention at Harborview Medical Center. Despite recent guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention giving an OK for vaccinated people to forgo masks in certain settings, Lynch says he thinks it's too early to leave face masks behind.
"I'm sticking with masking, despite being vaccinated, and I think we all should be sticking with that until our numbers are better," says Dr. John Lynch, medical director of infection control and prevention at Harborview Medical Center.
In its communication, the CDC failed to give public health officials specific guidance about when, specifically, to relax safety policies, Lynch said. Moreover, COVID-19 cases are not declining uniformly across the United States; some communities, such as King County, Washington, still have relatively high rates, and public health officials are concerned about a sudden increase among unmasked people in indoor public settings.