There are debates surrounding a return to mask mandates | File Photo
There are debates surrounding a return to mask mandates | File Photo
U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA) told the Cobb Reporter that she would support renewed lockdowns and restrictions if recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At a Biden administration news conference on July 29, deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to rule out renewed lockdowns due to the spread of the delta variant of COVID-19, if the CDC made such a recommendation.
At a July 29 press conference, White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to rule out renewed lockdowns due to the spread of the delta variant, at the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Like I said, we listen to the CDC and the experts and their guidance," Jean-Pierre said, according to The Western Journal. "The CDC is a body that is very well respected and, again, we follow their guidance."
This would include government mandates to close businesses and schools.
“This is a public health situation," said Jean-Pierre, when asked whether the Biden Administration would be open to renewed lockdowns. "This is not about politics at all, this is about saving lives. And this is what the president is all about.”
Others take a different view.
Dr. Joel Zinberg, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, has worked for 30 years at Mt. Sinai Hospital. He was also a senior economist and general counsel at the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
“Ordering lockdowns or mask mandates for the entire population defies common sense," Zinberg wrote in an article for the New York Post. The variant, especially when affecting vaccinated people, poses a very low threat of hospitalization and death, he said. Though cases have been rising, hospitalizations and deaths remain very low, with the death rate today falling farther than it was three weeks ago, when there were fewer cases, according to Zinberg.
The CDC has already reversed course on mask recommendations for vaccinated individuals, saying that wearing a mark indoors is “necessary” to reduce spread of the delta variant. President Joe Biden had said during the 2020 election that he will not shut down the country or the economy, according to Townhall.
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