WASHINGTON — Mask mandates are returning to the House and the White House, while the Senate is being strongly encouraged to use high-quality face coverings as well to help slow down the delta variant of COVID-19.
Attending Physician Brian Monahan’s messages to the House and Senate made the same substantive point, that the new guidance this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding indoor mask use by fully vaccinated individuals in areas where the virus is spreading has led him to recommend that Congress follow suit.
“For the Congress, representing a collection of individuals traveling weekly from various risk areas (both high and low rates of disease transmission), all individuals should wear a well-fitted, medical-grade filtration mask (for example an ear loop surgical mask or a KN95 mask) when they are in an interior space and other individuals are present,” Monahan wrote in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The message to the House goes further, reinstating requirements for wearing face masks in the hall of the House, the House office buildings and committee meetings when in the presence of other people.
On Wednesday morning, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced that masks are again required in the hall of the House, but that members are permitted to temporarily remove them when recognized by the chair to speak. She also reminded members that the House sergeant-at-arms is authorized and directed to impose fines for violations of this policy.
Over at the White House, staff moved quickly on Tuesday to restore the mask requirements following the formal announcement by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky of the updated guidance. The guidance is based in part on new research suggesting that the viral load of the delta variant may be significantly greater in vaccinated people — though the vaccines clearly provide protection against hospitalization and death.
More voluntary mask-wearing resumed Tuesday on Capitol Hill even before the messages from Monahan, but it may prove difficult to go back to the practice there. Some Republican senators are openly questioning the wisdom of the new CDC guidance.
“Do masks even work? Do they do more harm than good — particularly to children who have a low risk of serious disease or death from Covid? Remember, the initial goal of public policy was to flatten the curve so we wouldn’t overwhelm hospitals,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said in a statement Tuesday night. “At some point, federal agencies moved the goal posts. The initial goal was achievable. I’m not even sure what the new goal is.”
All credible information indicates that the use of high-quality masks, particularly N-95 masks and similar devices, are useful in reducing the risk of transmission of COVID-19.
In another sign of how the pandemic is still affecting the Capitol, a scheduled meeting of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee was postponed due to a possible COVID-19 exposure, a committee aide confirmed.
Walensky and Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, will be asked about the new guidance when they brief members of the House’s Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, according to Chair James E. Clyburn, D-S.C.
“Today’s announcement underscores the fact that we already have the tools needed to protect Americans against this deadly virus: safe and effective vaccines. We must double down in our collective efforts to get more Americans vaccinated — to protect themselves, their families, and their communities. I urge all Americans 12 years of age and older who remain unvaccinated to get their vaccinations immediately, ” Clyburn said in a statement. “Expeditiously reaching near-universal vaccination will significantly reduce the threat of the virus and will enable the CDC to revisit today’s guidance. Until that happens, I urge all Americans to follow these science-based recommendations.”
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(Suzanne Monyak and Mark Burnett contributed to this report.)
