People who are worried about using Covid can still protect themselves by wearing a mask properly, like an N95 or KN95, even when no one is around, Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Wednesday.
Gottlieb’s comments come two days after a federal judge in Florida overturned the Biden administration’s Covid mask-wearing rule for public transportation, including airlines. Many of the masking rules for other settings have been relaxed.
“If you have a mask that fits, a high-quality mask and you wear it well, you have a high degree of protection,” said the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. know. “Squawk Box.” “One-way masks work,” he added.
“So people who feel vulnerable, if they continue to do that, will be able to protect themselves in that context even if others aren’t wearing masks,” said Gottlieb, who now serves on the board of the Covid vaccine maker, argues. Pfizer.
In response to Florida’s ruling, the Transportation Security Administration said it would not enforce its pandemic policy; Major US airlines have also said they will no longer require face masks.
Judicial signaled Tuesday that it is likely to appeal the ruling from United States Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, who was appointed by the former President Donald Trump in 2020.
The end of the public transport mask requirement has been relieved by some and by others, particularly those with underlying health conditions that make them more susceptible to severe Covid disease.
While many public health mitigations for places like sports venues and restaurants have ended, proponents of mandatory mask wearing on public transit note that some people have no choice but to go to work by train and bus. For that reason, they believe this policy is an important layer of protection against Covid, especially for the more contagious variants.
Gottlieb said he thinks the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should leave the authority to use masks on Monday, instead of deciding last week extended the policy until May 3. However, he acknowledged that people “will feel vulnerable by this policy … especially children under the age of 5 with health conditions that cannot be vaccinated. strains” and immunodeficiency.
At the same time, Gottlieb said he believes “the masks can provide much less protection than people think because most people wear cloth masks,” but not the N95 and KN95 that can. high protection.
Gottlieb, who led the FDA from 2017 to 2019 in the Trump administration, reiterated: “For those who feel the risk, I would affirm that one-way masking still works. He again emphasized the need for it to be a high-quality mask. “I will still wear a mask under certain circumstances when I feel like I’m in a confined space and there’s a lot of people around where I’m in the environment. [Covid] prevalence is higher,” he added.
