Lockdowns and limiting gatherings are no longer necessary to curtail the spread of COVID-19, according to the White House COVID-19 response coordinator.
Dr. Ashish Jha, who was recently appointed as the Biden administration COVID-19 response czar, told Fox News Sunday’s Mike Emanuel that infection rates remain low despite the onset of the BA.2 omicron subvariant. While Jha stressed that science is changing and that people should expect guidelines to shift, he noted the country has reached a point in the pandemic where “we can gather safely.”
Emanuel asked Jha if the upcoming White House Correspondents’ Dinner should be canceled over concerns that it could become a superspreader event.
“I don’t think events like that need to be canceled,” Jha said, noting that safeguards such as testing, vaccination, and improved ventilation increase the safety of events. “Do I think it’s safe for people to gather together indoors? Absolutely, we can make those events much much safer now than what they were a year ago.”
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Some people on social media reacted to the message, noting how there were more than 70 positive cases of COVID-19 among those who attended the Washington Gridiron Club’s annual dinner just two weeks ago.
The messaging is so confusing.
— Heliotropic (@Shipulski) April 17, 2022
Jha also defended the Biden administration’s decision to extend the federal travel face mask mandate by two weeks, saying, “15 more days will give us a much better sense of whether these cases are leading to severe disease,” while affirming the end of Title 42, the Trump-era public health policy that allows for the quick deportation of thousands of migrants seeking asylum.
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“If you look across the country, infections are still at a relatively historic low, hospitalizations are very low, and the CDC scientists have determined that Title 42 is not necessary the border,” Jha said. “And by the way, that goes into effect in late May. It gives us time to assess things, and that’s a public health decision made by the CDC, and I think that they are following the evidence as they see it.”
