The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention Director Dr. Mandy Cohen is recommending Americans once again wear masks to “prevent” the spread of disease this winter.
“It’s that time of year again when we’re seeing a lot of respiratory illness,” Cohen said in a video posted to X (formerly Twitter). “In the United States RSV is elevated. Flu is continuing to increase in most of the country, and COVID is starting to increase again after being stable for the past few weeks.”
Cohen explained that the CDC has not observed “anything new or unfamiliar in terms of virus or sickness.” She then encouraged Americans to do what they do “every year” to protect their families by getting the updated COVID-19 and flu vaccines. “Use additional layers of protection like avoiding people who are sick, washing your hands, improving ventilation, and wearing a mask.”
The CDC considers masks to be “a critical public health tool for preventing spread of COVID-19,” despite a large portion of the American population believing otherwise.
A scientific review published by Cochrane Library earlier this year found that “wearing a mask may make little to no difference in how many people caught a flu-like illness/COVID-like illness (nine studies; 276,917 people); and probably makes little or no difference in how many people have flu/COVID confirmed by a laboratory test (six studies; 13,919 people).” According to the New York Post, “Data was gathered during the H1N1 flu pandemic in 2009, non-epidemic flu seasons, epidemic flu seasons up to 2016 and the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Just a few months ago, NBC News reported that COVID-19 is “making a comeback” after a number of schools and private businesses chose to reimplement temporary mask mandates.
Though masking policies are fraught with controversy, the has CDC continued to encourage Americans to adhere to COVID-19 policies from several years ago. Now more than ever, Americans have dwindling trust in scientific institutions, as many have observed the partisan nature of policy recommendations.
