CDC director advocates for Americans to continue mask-wearing and other prevention measures

During the White House COVID-19 response team briefing on Friday, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, highlighted a study that showed that following mitigation measures like mask mandates slows the spread of virus.

Video transcript

ROCHELLE WALENSKY: Now let's shift to an overview of the pandemic. CDC'S most recent data shows cases continue to fluctuate around 60,000 to 70,000 cases per day, with the most recent seven-day average of 62,000 cases per day. We also continue to see deaths hovering around 2,000 deaths per day, with the latest seven-day average of 1,900 deaths per day.

The current numbers remain concerning. Cases and deaths are still too high, and have now plateaued for more than a week at levels we saw during the late summer surge following six weeks of steady declines. This is why I'm asking you to double down on our prevention measures. I know the idea of relaxing mask wearing and getting back to everyday activities is appealing, but we're not there yet. And we have seen this movie before, when prevention measures like mask mandates are rolled back, cases go up.

An article published today in CDC'S "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report" highlights the critical importance of these prevention strategies and the real risks when prevention measures are eased. This study looked at the relationship between COVID-19 cases and deaths in both state-issued mask mandates and restaurant resuming on premises dining from March to December of 2020.

The researchers found that increases in both daily death rates and COVID cases and deaths slowed significantly within 20 days of putting mask mandates into place. And protective effect of the mask mandates grew stronger over time. In contrast, increases in daily death rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths grew more quickly within 40 to 80 days following restaurants being allowed to resume on premises dining.

This report is a critical reminder that with the current levels of COVID-19 in communities and the continued spread of more transmissible virus variants, which have now been detected in eight states, strictly following prevention measures remains essential for putting an end to this pandemic. It also serves as a warning about prematurely lifting these prevention measures.

There's a light at the end of this tunnel, but we must be prepared for the fact that the road ahead may not be smooth. And that path is within our control. By continuing to wear masks and following CDC'S public health recommendations while we get more people vaccinated, we can bring this pandemic to an end.