TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Wearing masks outdoors may not be necessary moving forward, according o the nation’s top infectious disease expert.
“The risk of infection outside is really minimal, if you’re vaccinated and you’re outside, it’s even less,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, he U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden.
Fauci said the country will soon reach a turning point in the pandemic if vaccinations continue at the current rate.
The White House is expected to make an announcement Tuesday morning about relaxing some COVID-19 guidelines.
“Expect the CDC to update their guidance to recommend that you do not need to wear masks outdoors except in limited settings and to possibly recommend that vaccinated people can safely travel. So, I do think that the CDC will qualify that in certain situations people do need to wear masks outdoors,” one doctor predicted.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis did not extend Florida’s COVID-19 state of emergency order, therefore it expired at midnight Tuesday. The decision could impact COVID-19 rules in local communities.
Fauci said the entire country could see more changes in the coming weeks.
“If we can get 3 million people a day vaccinated literally with a few weeks we’re going to start to see a turning around of the dynamics,” Fauci said.
