That’s what Dr. Anthony Fauci, the highest authority on infectious diseases in the United States, to CNN Americans’ may need to continue wearing the mask in 2022even if the country manages to achieve “a significant degree of normalcy” by the end of this year.
Fauci’s statements come just as the country nears 500,000 deaths from the virus.
In an interview with Dana Bash on CNN’s State of the Union show, the presenter asked her if she thought Americans should keep wearing masks next year, to which the expert replied, “ You know, I think it’s possible. the case and again, it really depends on what you mean by normality. “
Fauci told Bash that while he cannot predict when the United States could come back to life as it was before the pandemic, he agrees with Biden that the country “will achieve a significant degree of normalcy beyond the appalling burden. of the ones we’ve all been last year “and this will happen” as we move into fall and winter towards the end of the year, “he explained.
The space host asked him why he thought we might have to keep using the mask in 2022, to which Fauci replied that it depends on the levels and dynamics of the virus in the communities.
“It will never be zero”
“I want us to move on to a benchmark where levels are so low that there are virtually no threats, although it will never be zero, but minimal chance of being exposed to someone who is infected,” he explained.
“So if you combine that almost everyone in the country has been vaccinated and keep the virus level in the community very, very low, then I think you can say you don’t necessarily have to wear a mask,” Fauci said, claiming that since there is an average or high number of cases in the communities it should be used to bring them down.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the use of masks is fundamental to slow the spread of the virus and protect not only those who use them but also those around them.
Fauci herself has insisted many times on the importance of wearing the mask and recently, in light of new variants of the virus already in the country, has even recommended double wearing it.
According to the John Hopkins University census, there have already been over 28 million cases of coronavirus and nearly half a million deaths in the United States.
