TAMPA, Fla. — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is looking to loosen its guidance on mask-wearing possibly this week.
"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," CDC director Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday.
The potential change comes as more states ease their mask mandates on businesses and cases of the omicron decline nationwide.
In Florida, cases have dropped back to numbers from early December after reporting record pandemic highs in the month of January.
The current CDC recommendations call for all people to wear a mask in indoor public spaces in areas with high transmission, regardless of vaccination status.
The guidance could loosen for fully vaccinated individuals with a booster shot, Dr. Thomas Unnasch, distinguished USF Health professor, said. Unnasch is also a part of USF's Center for Global Health and Infectious Diseases Research.
"They're recognizing the fact that we're moving more into a stage now where individual responsibilities are going to be playing a much greater role than trying to make global recommendations that cover everybody," Unnasch said.
But Unnasch said the exception may be to keep masks on if someone lives with a loved one who is vulnerable, elderly, or immunocompromised, regardless of vaccination status.
While the omicron variant appears to be affecting people with mild, flu-like symptoms, Unnasch said that doesn't apply to all and there is still a risk of exposure to someone who's immunocompromised to be severely ill or die.
That's why he recommends keeping masks on if someone knows they'll be in contact with a vulnerable individual.
Unnasch said new guidance will likely influence mask rules in public venues to relax, including airports and public transportation.
"This, of course, assumes that what really happens here is that case numbers continue to move downwards and we don't get yet another horrible variant," Unnasch said.
Aside from case numbers, Unnasch said other benchmarks for the CDC to consider in their new recommendations include severity of illness, hospitalizations and other variants that may emerge outside of the U.S.
Despite the new guidance, Unnasch warns it could change quickly once again depending on the trajectory of the coronavirus.