Topline
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may announce new guidance on mask wearing as early as Tuesday, according to a CNN report, which comes as the agency’s ex-head offered a dire warning about the trajectory of the U.S.’s battle against Covid-19.
Tom Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2009 to 2017.
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Key Facts
CNN, citing a person familiar with the talks, said top officials huddled Sunday night “to go over the new data and evidence regarding the transmissibility of the [delta] variant and breakthrough cases.”
The officials are reportedly on the cusp of deciding whether to walk back the agency’s relaxation of mask guidance roughly two months ago, when cases, hospitalizations and deaths plummeted amid rising vaccinations.
With all three currently up, former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden warned the broadcaster Tuesday morning that the rate of Covid-19 in the U.S. appears to be on track to quadruple in the next few weeks.
He said new daily cases could surpass 200,000 (near the pandemic peak of 250,000 hit in January) in a little over a month if more preventative action isn’t taken.
While this will represent a “rough time” for the U.S., according to Frieden, it likely won’t replicate the “horrific death tolls” of earlier in the pandemic thanks to the number of people who are vaccinated.
Big Number
56,600. That’s the average number of new cases the U.S. is reporting each day, as of July 26. This marks a 144% increase over the past two weeks. Hospitalizations have also risen 68% to 33,350, while deaths are averaging around 275 per day (a 7% increase).
Crucial Quote
“It’s likely, if our trajectory is similar to that in the United Kingdom, that we could see as many as 200,000 cases a day,” Frieden, who served as the CDC’s director from 2009 to 2017, told CNN. “You will see a steady increase in deaths, and these are preventable deaths.”
Contra
But not all public health officials are in agreement with Frieden’s predictions. Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CBS News on Sunday that a large number of undetected coronavirus cases likely means the U.S. is further along in its delta outbreak than known. This could lead to the country “turning the corner” in the next few weeks, he said.
Key Background
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House’s chief medical advisor, acknowledged over the weekend that top health officials have been discussing whether to revise the mask guidance for Americans. Some local governments, including Los Angeles County and St. Louis, Missouri, have already reinstated indoor mask requirements amid surging cases.
