Joe Biden's joke about not wearing face mask despite COVID-19 exposure says it all: 'I didn't have it on'



President Joe Biden joked on Wednesday about skirting CDC guidelines on wearing a mask after being exposed to COVID-19.

On Monday, the White House announced that first lady Jill Biden had tested positive for COVID-19. The president, however, tested negative.

That meant Biden could continue his daily work, but he would have to mask up when indoors and around other people in compliance with CDC guidance for people exposed to COVID-19, which states:

Wear a high-quality mask or respirator (e.g., N95) any time you are around others inside your home or indoors in public.

But Biden is clearly not interested in abiding by that guidance.

While walking into the State Dining Room to discuss a new contract between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association, Biden carried a black face mask in his hand before stepping up to the lectern and cracking a joke about not wearing it.

"Hello, everybody. Let me explain to the press: I've been tested again today. I'm clear across the board, but they keep telling me, because this has to be 10 days or something, I got to keep wearing it," Biden said.

"But don't tell them I didn’t have it on when I walked in," he quipped.

— (@)

Whether masks protect against COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses is debated. While health authorities assert they do, a systematic review published in January asserted wearing a mask "probably makes little or no difference to the outcome" of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 compared to not wearing them.

Oxford epidemiologist Tom Jefferson, the first author of that study, said after its publication, "There is just no evidence that [masks] make any difference."

"Makes no difference — none of it," he explained, saying policymakers who enacted mask mandates during the pandemic were "convinced by nonrandomized studies, flawed observational studies."

Still, it is telling that not even Biden, at 81 years old, wants to wear his mask despite his own government's guidance, the White House saying he would follow that guidance, and his elevated risk of contracting and spreading the virus.

Not wearing his face mask at Wednesday's event was the second time in as many days that Biden skirted CDC guidance.

Biden removed his face mask at a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House on Tuesday. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre later excused the clear violation of CDC guidance.

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CDC quietly lifts universal mask recommendations for health care providers



The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has once again quietly changed its COVID-19 recommendations and no longer recommends universal masking in health care settings.

Without fanfare, the agency made sweeping changes to its infection prevention and control recommendations for health care workers on Friday, notably removing the masking recommendation except in areas with high COVID-19 transmission. Additionally, the CDC says vaccination status is no longer used to inform use of face masks, screening testing, or post-exposure recommendations.

“Updates were made to reflect the high levels of vaccine- and infection-induced immunity and the availability of effective treatments and prevention tools,” the updated guidance states.

The CDC is recommending that health care facilities in areas without high virus transmission develop their own protocols for masking. They can "choose not to require" all doctors, patients, and visitors to mask. However, masking is still recommended for individuals in health care settings who have suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases or have another respiratory illness.

Health care settings "refers to places where healthcare is delivered and includes, but is not limited to, acute care facilities, long-term acute-care facilities, nursing homes, home healthcare, vehicles where healthcare is delivered (e.g., mobile clinics), and outpatient facilities, such as dialysis centers, physician offices, dental offices, and others," the CDC said.

Facilities in counties with high transmission are encouraged to continue universal masking. The CDC says community transmission is the metric used to evaluate whether an area has high transmission, and it refers to the presence and spread of SARS-CoV-2.

About 70% of U.S. counties have high community transmission, according to the CDC.

Community transmission is a different metric from the community level measure used for non-health-care settings.

"COVID-19 Community Levels place an emphasis on measures of the impact of COVID-19 in terms of hospitalizations and healthcare system strain, while accounting for transmission in the community," the CDC says.

Under that metric, only about 7% of U.S. counties are at high risk.

Health care providers were given several other recommendations for COVID-19 protocol in case of an outbreak at their facility. When there is an outbreak, or when doctors are providing care to immunocompromised patients, they are recommended to wear a face mask.

Even in areas with high transmission, providers may establish "well-defined areas" removed from patients where workers can remove their masks. An example might be a staff meeting room.

Health care providers must still abide by the COVID-19 recommendations imposed by state and local governments where they are. In New York, for example, the state still requires masks in medical settings regardless of the CDC's recommendations.

CDC issues insane sex guidance to prevent the spread of monkeypox



The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued guidance on stopping the spread of monkeypox.

What are the details?

In a June press release, the CDC announced a variety of suggestions to tamp down infectious monkeypox.

Some of the guidance includes masturbating at least six feet away from a partner, avoiding kissing, having virtual sex, and "having sex with your clothes on or covering areas where rash or sores are present."

Additionally, those infected with monkeypox — or who are presumed to be carrying the virus — are asked to wash their hands, "fetish gear, sex toys, and any fabrics" that may have come into contact with infected areas during sexual intercourse.

Monkeypox, according to the organization, "is a disease that can make you sick, including a rash, which may look like pimples or blisters, often with an earlier flu-like illness." Other symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills, and exhaustion. Infected persons can spread monkeypox through skin-to-skin contact, contact with contaminated objects, respiratory secretions, mucous membrane secretions — like the ones sometimes emitted during intercourse — and more.

Researchers are currently investigating whether the virus can be spread asymptomatically and advise those engaging in sexual relations to discuss their recent health history with their prospective or current partners.

"Talk to your partner about any recent illness and be aware of new or unexplained sores or rashes on your body or your partner’s body, including the genitals and anus," the organization suggested. "If you or your partner have recently been sick, currently feel sick, or have a new or an unexplained rash or sores, do not have sex and see a healthcare provider. This is always a good plan, even if monkeypox isn’t in your area."

The CDC also has recommended visiting a health care provider if any concerning symptoms appear and to be prepared to potentially disclose the identities of people with whom you have had "close, personal, or sexual contact within the last 21 days" prior to the appointment, "including people you met through dating apps."

"You might be asked to share this information if you have received a monkeypox diagnosis, to help stop the spread," the organization also warned.

CDC director says agency is reviewing mask guidance, but not changing recommendations yet



U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky on Wednesday said the agency is reviewing its mask guidance with the aim of eventually giving people a "break" once COVID-19 metrics like cases and hospitalizations improve.

The CDC director emphasized that federal masking recommendations are not changing yet. But she did say the agency is shifting its focus to COVID-19 hospitalizations as the key measure for the severity of the pandemic.

"We must consider hospital capacity as an additional important barometer," Walensky said during the weekly White House COVID-19 update Wednesday. "We want to give people a break from things like mask-wearing when these metrics are better, and then have the ability to reach for them again should things worsen," she said.

CDC Dir. Walensky says agency is not yet changing mask guidance, citing substantial or high community transmission in over 97% of counties and hospitalizations.\n\n\u201cWe want to give people a break from things like mask-wearing when these metrics are better.\u201d https://abcn.ws/3GZelFf\u00a0pic.twitter.com/xKQc0cvkBT
— ABC News (@ABC News) 1645029343

CDC recommendations currently state that people should wear face coverings indoors in public if they live in an area with high viral transmission. The recommendation is for both those that are vaccinated against COVID-19 and those who are not. According to CDC data, nearly every county in the United States has high viral transmission. Federal law also requires people to wear masks on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation.

But for months, states like Florida and Texas have gone without mask mandates that would enforce the CDC guidelines. And as the winter surge of the Omicron variant cases has subsided, states with Democratic governors like New York and California have begun to pull back on their mandates, citing falling numbers of cases and hospitalizations.

Since many states are now ignoring the CDC's recommendations, the Biden administration has been pressed to update its guidance to match the reality many Americans are now living in, where people are preparing to live with COVID-19 as endemic disease.

Jeff Zients, White House COVID response coordinator, said the federal government is cooperating with state governors, public health experts, and business leaders to prepare for what comes next.

"We're moving toward a time when Covid isn't a crisis, but it's something we can protect against and treat," Zients said at Wednesday's briefing. "The president and our Covid team are actively planning for the future."

Still, Walensky said that while "things are moving in the right direction," viral transmission is still too high to lax the agency's guidance.

The CDC on Wednesday reported an average of about 136,000 new COVID-19 cases per day over the last week, an 83% decrease from the record high of more than 800,000 new cases per day set on Jan. 15, according to CNBC News.

The CDC said there are about 85,000 patients in U.S. hospitals with COVID, according to a seven-day average of data from the Department of Health and Human Services.

"As we have fewer cases, people will become more comfortable with taking off their mask, but we will certainly want people to have the flexibility to wear one if they so choose," Walensky said.

She noted that everyone should wear a mask for 10 days if they have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

CDC director defers to Democratic governors on ending mask mandates, says federal guidelines won't change



Biden administration health officials said Wednesday that it is still too early for states to ease school mask mandates as Democratic governors are finally catching up to their Republican peers and ending masking requirements.

At a press briefing Wednesday, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky was asked if her agency's masking guidance would be updated now that several states are acting to lift their mandates.

"We certainly understand the need and desire to be flexible and we want to ensure the public health guidance that we're providing meets the moment that we're in," Walensky said. She added that while falling COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are "encouraging," deaths and hospitalizations are still too high for the CDC to change its masking recommendations.

Walensky's comments come as Democratic governors in Connecticut, Delaware, and New Jersey, as well as Massachusetts' Republican governor, announced this week that statewide mask mandates would not be renewed when they expire, transferring decisions over mask requirements to local school districts. New York and California will also end their indoor mask mandates for public spaces, but have not announced whether separate school mask mandates will expire too.

The governors in these states say the mandates are no longer needed because of declining COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations after the Omicron surge, as well as the widespread availability of vaccines and booster shots.

Asked if CDC data backs up decisions to lift mask mandates, Walensky deferred to the governors' judgement.

"We've always said that these decisions are going to have to be made at the local level. And that policies at the local level will look at local cases, they'll look at how local hospitals are doing, they'll look at local vaccination rates," Walensky said.

She continued: "And they, as I understand it, in many of these decisions are using a phased approach. Not all of these decisions are being made to stop things tomorrow, but they're looking at a phased approach. So what I would say is, again, they have to be done at the local level, but I'm really encouraged that cases are continuing to drop dramatically. Hospitalizations are continuing to drop dramatically as people are making these decisions and as we are working on our guidance. So I'm encouraged to see those trends."

Still, the governors lifting mask mandates are doing so contrary to the CDC's official recommendations. Walensky said the agency is working to update its guidance eventually, but not right now.

"We are prepared, we are working on that guidance. We are working on following the trends for the moment," Walensky said. "Our hospitalizations are still high. Our death rates are still high. So as we work towards that, and as we are encouraged by the current trends, we are not there yet."

The CDC on Monday reported a 7-day average of 247,320 COVID-19 cases per day, a decrease of about 44% over the previous week. The agency also counted 13,066 new hospital admissions, a decrease of about 25% from last week. Deaths increased slightly, rising 3% with an average of 2,404 deaths reported per day.

The Biden administration has so far taken a much softer tone toward the Democratic governors ignoring CDC guidance on masks than it did toward Republican officials who did the same thing last year.

When Republican governors in Texas and Mississippi ended statewide mask mandates and reopened businesses in March 2021, White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci called the decision "inexplicable."

“I understand the need to want to get back to normality, but you’re only going to set yourself back if you just completely push aside the public health guidelines — particularly when we’re dealing with anywhere from 55 [thousand] to 70,000 infections per day in the United States,” Fauci said, quoting what were the most recent average daily case counts at the time. President Joe Biden piled on the Republican governors who lifted mask requirements too, calling their decisions "Neanderthal thinking."

Those numbers are now dwarfed by the over 247,000 average daily case counts caused by the Omicron variant, which is more contagious than other variants but causes less severe disease.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) said last year they were lifting mask mandates because of falling cases, hospitalizations, and the availability of vaccines. Both southern states without mask mandates and northern states with mask mandates went on to see surges in coronavirus cases caused by the Delta and Omicron variants.

Schools close indefinitely in Flint, Michigan, students moved to virtual learning contrary to CDC guidance



Schoolchildren in Flint, Michigan will be moved to remote learning indefinitely after the school district decided it will not be resuming classes on Jan. 24.

In a notice to parents, district Superintendent Kevelin Jones said the decision was made to shift to "distance learning" in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

"While this decision was not made easily, it is necessary for the greater health of our community," Jones said in a statement posted Wednesday. "We know this is not an easy time for many across our district and we want you to know that you are not alone."

Flint, Michigan schools closed indefinitely. This district's minority enrollment is 90%. 80% of students are in living in poverty. You want to talk about economic inequality, talk to your union bosses keeping these kids and families locked out.https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2022/01/flint-schools-extends-virtual-learning-period-indefinitely.html\u00a0\u2026
— Rory Cooper (@Rory Cooper) 1642691173

Flint Community Schools were scheduled to reopen after winter break on Jan. 24, but this more recent decision means students will attempt to learn remotely at home until further notice.

The announcement cited state data that shows the COVID-19 testing positivity rate in Genesee County is 38.4%. The county reported 1,232 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 weekly.

Michigan is experiencing a statewide surge in COVID cases caused by the highly contagious Omicron variant. Over Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, the state reported a seven-day average of 17,595 new cases, breaking a record.

The seven-day average number of new reported deaths is 107, up from 95 a week ago, according to Michigan Live.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines state that places with a positive rate exceeding 10% are areas at risk of "high transmission." The CDC recommends that people in areas of high transmission wear face masks in public, indoor settings.

"To lower the transmission number, and to keep it low, we must actively continue distance learning until further notice," Jones said.

However, the decision to close schools for in-person instruction goes against the recommendations of the CDC, which the agency says are based in scientific study.

"Evidence suggests that many K–12 schools that have strictly implemented prevention strategies have been able to safely open for in-person instruction and remain open," the CDC says. The federal government has provided recommendations for schools that wish to stay open on how to do so safely, including the widespread use of face masks and social distancing.

Even in areas of high COVID transmission, the CDC says K-12 schools should be the last settings to close after all other prevention measures in the community have been employed and the first to reopen when they can do so safely. In the absence of a city-wide pandemic lockdown, the CDC says schools should be open if businesses and other public places are open too.

The CDC in recent months has prioritized keeping schools open, embracing "test-to-stay" policies in December to keep kids in classrooms. These policies let students exposed to someone with COVID-19 stay in school as long as they test negative for the virus.

Remote learning is widely acknowledged to be harmful for students, which is why reopening schools has been a priority for public health officials. Studies have shown virtual school resulted in "significant" academic learning loss throughout school closures during the pandemic. A study published by the CDC last March found that the mental health and wellness of children and their parents suffered without in-person interactions with teachers and peers in the classroom.

Jones acknowledged that virtual learning has left many students behind during a Board of Education meeting last week, but said remote learning was necessary for the safety of students and teachers.

“We want to get scholars back into the buildings, but it is just not safe,” Jones said. “... We are going to be catching up, educationally, for a while anyway. Most people do not understand that ... We are going to have to catch up, but the world has not ended. We are going to keep going and keep educating.”

CDC calls for schools to cancel football, band in US schools, gets panned as 'out-of-touch,' 'unrealistic'



Scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are issuing what some are saying is "out-of-touch" and "unrealistic" guidance for schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic, CNN reported.

On Jan. 6, the CDC advised that schools "cancel or hold high-risk sports and extra-curricular activities virtually" any time a community has what is considered a "high" COVID-19 transmission rate. Such activities include "those in which increased exhalation occurs, such as activities that involve singing, shouting, band, or exercise, especially when conducted indoors."

The CDC went on to note that at the time of its guidance, 99% of all U.S. counties were seeing a "high" rate of transmission.

What's the criticism?

CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen wrote, "If the scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had their way, to curb the spread of COVID-19 right now, nearly every U.S. school would cancel football, wrestling, band, and loads of other mainstay school activities."

Dr. William Schaffner, CDC adviser for at least four decades and infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University, has said that he believes that it is "unlikely, unreasonable, and unrealistic" to think that Americans will follow such advice in the coming days.

"Making public health recommendations — they are not a platonic idea," he added. "They have to work in the real world."

What doesn't work, Cohen said, is the "out-of-touch advice" that has been a "hallmark of many CDC recommendations" dating back to even before the pandemic, and health experts are now calling for the government agency to pick up its game.

Schaffner added that he can't fathom why the CDC would want to cancel certain extracurricular activities when all children do is shout.

"I could take you by the hand and say, 'Let's walk through three grammar schools,'" he said. "What we'd see is kids shouting in the hallways. That's what kids do."

Dr. Otis Brawley, who worked with the CDC from 2007 to 2018, told the outlet that he believes it is unrealistic to think that schools would cancel related activities.

"I really feel for the people at the CDC," Brawley admitted. "They're damned if they do, and they're damned if they don't."

School Superintendents Association President Paul Imhoff added that extracurricular activities — such as football, choir, and more — are an integral component to a well-rounded curriculum and for students' overall mental health.

"As schools are making decisions about having choir and band and wrestling, it's about making sure our kids are healthy in every way," he reasoned. "I think everyone's doing their best to take care of the whole child."

A federal health official who spoke on condition of anonymity told the outlet that the CDC needs to make better use of its own communication specialists.

"There simply is not a seat at the table for communicators when it comes to actually developing guidance," the official said and noted that CDC communication specialists would "take into account whether the guidance that's being developed is truly practical."

Prioritizing 'academics over athletics'

Cohen cited CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky's response to CNN's questioning about the recently updated guidance.

Walensky responded that the CDC was prioritizing "academics over athletics because of the increased risks involved in some extracurricular sports."

"When followed, our school guidance has been incredibly effective," she added. "In the fall, 99 percent of schools were able to remain open during the intense delta wave of COVID."

Walensky continued, pointing out that availability of vaccines for school-age children adds "another layer of protection" and "enhances the school guidance."

"[The CDC] developed our school guidance knowing school administrators, teachers and parents were looking to us at CDC to get their children back in the enriching environment of the classroom and it was a priority to get our children back to school safely," she added.

Fauci and Walensky suggest new CDC rules aren't based solely on science — but on what 'people would be able to tolerate'



The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is under fire from health experts and employee groups that say the new COVID-19 isolation and quarantine guidance doesn't follow the science. The critics are saying the government is changing the rules for practical reasons — to keep the economy from shutting down — and comments from CDC Director Rochelle Walensky and White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci indicate the critics have a point.

On Monday, the CDC rolled out new guidance shortening the time people who test positive for COVID-19 are recommended to isolate before interacting with other people. Previously, a person who tested positive for the virus was supposed to quarantine for 10 days. Now, the CDC says people who test positive are asked to isolate for five days and then, if they have no symptoms, they may leave quarantine as long as they wear a mask around others. The new guidance applies to everyone, regardless of vaccination status.

But here's what's causing controversy: The new guidelines do not require a person in quarantine to test negative for the virus before leaving isolation after five days. They are also silent on the type of mask a person leaving quarantine should wear, even though the weight of scientific evidence suggests that cloth masks, which are highly popular, are not that effective at stopping transmission of the Delta or Omicron coronavirus variants.

Fauci and Walensky insist the change is based on science demonstrating that most COVID-19 transmission happens 1-2 days prior to the onset of symptoms and 2-3 days afterward.

Health experts commenting on social media criticized the lack of a testing recommendation, with one epidemiologist going so far as to call the guidance "reckless."

CDC\u2019s new guidance to drop isolation of positives to 5 days without a negative test is reckless\n\nSome ppl stay infectious 3 days,Some 12\n\nI absolutely don\u2019t want to sit next to someone who turned Pos 5 days ago and hasnt tested Neg\n\nTest Neg to leave isolation early is just smart
— Michael Mina (@Michael Mina) 1640645077

On Tuesday night, Fauci went on MSNBC with host Chris Hayes to defend the new guidance. Hayes was clearly skeptical of the new rules, asking if there was actual science behind the change or if the CDC made a "policy judgement" based on certain "trade-offs" — like making sure that America's infrastructure doesn't shut down because essential workers are forced to quarantine for 10 days if they test positive for COVID.

.@chrislhayes pressed Fauci tonight on new CDC guidance.\n\nHAYES: Is there any science backing up the idea that after 5 days\u2026 you\u2019re not still shedding virus?\n\nFAUCI: This is one of those situations\u2026 that we often say, you don't want the perfect to be the enemy of the good.pic.twitter.com/NVSqfZ8yUk
— Dan Diamond (@Dan Diamond) 1640752693

"Nothing is going to be 100%," Fauci answered, calling the CDC's decision a "difficult situation."

"You don't want the perfect to be the enemy of the good," Fauci said, arguing that after five days, mask-wearing should provide enough protection against virus transmission for asymptomatic, COVID-positive people to leave quarantine.

Walensky echoed Fauci's comments in an interview on Wednesday morning, but was even more forthright about how the CDC considered people's resistance to coronavirus restrictions before coming to its decision.

CNN's @kaitlancollins: "It sounds like this decision had just as much to do with business as it did the science."\n\n@CDCDirector Dr. Rochelle Walensky: "It really had a lot to do with what we thought people would be able to tolerate."pic.twitter.com/Ek3X3S7Q9S
— The Recount (@The Recount) 1640784051

"It really had a lot to do with what we thought people would be able to tolerate," Walensky admitted.

Both Fauci and Walensky have also vigorously denied that the lack of a testing requirement is due to limited supply of virus tests in the U.S., contradicting multiple news reports on the CDC's decision-making.

CNN reported Tuesday that a shortage of tests factored into the administration's decision, quoting a senior administration official.

"If we require a test, people are going to say, 'What if we can't get a test?'" the official told CNN. "Rather than letting the perfect be the enemy of the good," the official said, the CDC went with looser restrictions, although the official noted that "best practice would also include a test for SARS-CoV-2 at day 5 after exposure.”

The New York Times corroborated that report: "A scientist who has discussed isolation policy with the C.D.C. in recent months said that officials said the agency could not recommend rapid tests while supplies were so scarce. The scientist spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe confidential discussions."

But Fauci has outright denied that claim. "The reason the CDC gives is not because there is a shortage of tests," he told CNN on Tuesday. Walensky said the same thing Wednesday morning.

"This really had nothing to do with supply. It had everything to do with knowing what we would do with the information when we got it," she told CBS.

So Fauci and Walensky have admitted the policy change was not based solely on scientific evidence, but other considerations as well. And they appear to be lying about, or at least obfuscating, the factors that went into the CDC's decision.

As for their claims about COVID infections not being contagious after five days, some health experts who spoke to the New York Times disagreed. Yonatan Grad, an associate professor of immunology and infectious diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said the CDC's policy "feels honestly more about economics than about the science."

“I suspect what it will do is result in at least some people emerging from isolation more quickly, and so there’ll be more opportunities for transmission and that of course will accelerate the spread of Covid-19,” he told the Times, adding that people are unlikely to strictly follow the CDC's masking guidelines after returning from quarantine.

“I don’t think reducing the time for isolation overall is a bad idea,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. “But saying, ‘Five days is probably OK, based on Delta, so let’s give it a shot and see,’ is really not what you should be doing.”

Labor groups have also protested the guidance, fearing that employers will require sick employees to return to work after five days, when they might still be contagious.

“It’s only going to lead to more illness, more cases,” said Jean Ross, president of National Nurses United, during an appearance on CNN.

Sarah Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, told CNN separately that her union is concerned that the CDC changed its policy after receiving pressure from business groups to do so. Last week, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian and company chief health officer Henry Ting, along with medical adviser Carlos del Rio, sent a letter to Walensky urging the CDC to shorten the isolation period from 10 days to five.

"Our concern is that this is putting all the onus on the workers and when you put policies forward that are pro-business and not grounded in public health, it gives people reason to pause and not trust our public health requirement," Nelson said.

The problem is that even people who were fully compliant with social distancing, masking, and vaccination mandates are testing positive for COVID-19. Hundreds of flights were canceled over Christmas weekend because flight crew members tested positive for COVID, despite airline employee vaccine mandates, and had to call in sick, without anyone to replace them.

Faced with a virus that is continuing to infect even those that have fully complied with the government's guidance, the Biden administration can either continue to insist that people adhere to its recommendations — which will shut down the economy again — or they can change the guidance to keep the economy open. It appears they have chosen the latter, frustrating health experts.

"I wish they just came out and said [the real reason]," George Washington University public health professor and former Planned Parenthood president Leana Wen said on CNN Tuesday, according to The Hill. "Tests actually are needed to exit isolation, but if we don't even have enough tests right now to test symptomatic people, then we cannot possibly issue a guidance for all of America to exit isolation that way."

(h/t: Hot Air)

CDC endorses frequent school COVID testing to keep kids in class and end disruptive quarantines



The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released updated guidance endorsing "test-to-stay" policies that will allow students exposed to someone with COVID-19 to stay in school if they test negative for the virus.

Many school districts across the nation have already implemented these test-to-stay policies, but the CDC's official guidance was not updated until Friday, when the agency published two studies that showed the policies did not lead to increased virus transmission in schools.

“Test-to-stay is an encouraging public health practice to help keep our children in school,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said.

Until now, CDC guidance for schools advised that when someone in a school tests positive for COVID-19, anyone who was in close contact with that individual should isolate in quarantine at home for at least 10 days.

But hundreds of schools in the U.S. have adopted test-to-stay policies as an alternative approach, and several states have funded statewide test-to-stay policies to ensure that students do not spend long periods of time out of the classroom, according to the Associated Press.

The CDC worked with some school districts to evaluate these programs and released two studies on Friday that showed test-to-stay is succeeding.

One study of K-12 schools in Los Angeles County examined a test-to-stay strategy adopted on July 12 that permitted unvaccinated students who were exposed to COVID-19 to stay in school if they regularly tested negative, were asymptomatic, and wore a mask while in school. The study found that keeping kids in school under these conditions did not increase transmission risk in public schools and "might greatly reduce loss of in-person school days."

A second study of schools in Lake County, Illinois, had similar results for a test-to-stay policy that was adopted in August. Close contacts of infected persons were allowed to stay in school provided both the infected person and the close contact were masked when an exposure may have happened, the close contact was asymptomatic, and the close contact was tested one, three, five, and seven days after exposure to the infected person.

In that study, COVID-19 infections developed in only 16 out of more than 1,000 close contacts who were tracked, a transmission rate of about 1.5%.

"Test-to-Stay is another valuable tool in a layered prevention strategy that includes promoting vaccination of eligible students and staff, requiring everyone age 2 and older wear a mask inside schools and facilities, keeping at least 3 feet of distance between students, screening testing, ventilation, handwashing, and staying home when sick," CDC officials said.

"Additionally, CDC recommends everyone ages 5 years and older get a COVID-19 vaccine to help protect against COVID-19. Adolescents ages 16 years and older can get a booster shot at least six months after a primary series. Widespread vaccination for COVID-19 is a critical tool to best protect everyone from COVID-19 and COVID-19 related complications," the agency added.

The CDC recommends that students who participate in test-to-stay should "consistently and correctly wear masks while in school and should stay home and isolate if they develop symptoms or test positive for SARS-CoV-2."

Schools that wish to adopt test-to-stay policies must have "robust contact tracing" programs and access to testing resources, the CDC said.

Michigan residents tired of lockdown mandates say they 'identify as fully vaccinated,' ditch masks



Fed up with stringent coronavirus restrictions, some residents of a small county in Michigan's Upper Peninsula are reportedly saying they "identify as fully vaccinated" amid new guidance that allows inoculated people to ditch masks in public.

The updated guidance issued last week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — which allows for fully vaccinated individuals to "resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing" — has inevitably led to some confusion over how to enforce mask and social distancing mandates in public.

And in a region of the country eager to be finished with the pandemic, some are taking advantage of that uncertainty, reported Kerry Ott, public information officer for the Luce, Mackinac, Alger, and Schoolcraft (LMAS) health department, to Michigan Radio.

"A lot of people are using the phrase, 'I identify as fully vaccinated' and taking their masks off," Ott said of Luce County residents. "I'm not kidding ...They're not vaccinated, but they're going to take their masks off."

In a county of 6,600 people where only three have died from the virus, the opportunistic behavior is meeting little resistance from public health authorities.

Ott has reportedly been telling local businesses there's not much they can do beyond making a "good faith" effort.

"We're just repeating what is in the governor's orders. We're not asking for people's [vaccination] cards. We're just asking for them to self attest their vaccination status. And if they say yes, we're telling the businesses, 'Then take them at their word and move forward,'" she said.

In the report, writer Kate Wells paraphrased a famous quote by former President Donald Trump to note that in the Upper Peninsula, and especially in Luce County, it can feel at times like "the cure is worse than the disease."

That sentiment was echoed by Raymond Mahaffey, or "Chef Ray," as locals refer to him, who is one of only 35% in the county who have been vaccinated.

"Ultimately, it'll all work itself out," he said, expressing he's not really worried about the virus anymore. "It's time to let nature take its course."

He added that he thinks the lockdown policies affecting schools and businesses have been too high a price to pay for an illness that is not markedly worse than the flu.

"Can you imagine if they said, 'OK, we're going to close the school for three months, and the kids are going to suffer, because guess what? Somebody got the flu,'" he said. "We got little kids in school that are passing [the virus] around, and they're as healthy as can be, but they've tested positive."

"There is no reason [for this] a year later, with the numbers being so small [here]," he continued. "[The restrictions have] been nothing but political. It's been crazy. And we can't wait to get it over with."