If leadership is the power or ability to lead other people, the Biden administration seems to lead only on the front edge of COVID-19 waves.
When the omicron variant was first discovered over the Thanksgiving holiday, President Joe Biden announced a travel ban of eight African nations within days. By Dec. 2, he extended the federal mask mandate for public transit, airports, and airplanes from Jan. 18 to March 18, even though the earlier expiration was still 47 days away.
Now, with cases falling and the public eager to shake off restrictions, the administration is watching as states and cities announce an end to mask and vaccine mandates. However, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance still recommends forced masking in nearly all indoor areas. With March 18 less than 30 days away, there has been no announcement about the federal mask rule either way.
“The CDC is far behind,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a centrist Republican, told CNN last week. “We were at the White House with all the governors a week or so ago, and there is nearly universal, bipartisan support for moving forward and putting this thing behind us.”
Peppered with questions about whether Biden and the CDC were becoming irrelevant as Democratic governors loosened restrictions, White House press secretary Jen Psaki repeatedly pointed back to the agency’s guidance. When Washington, D.C., announced an end to its mask mandate, Psaki said it would remain in place at the White House until the CDC changed its tune.
Finally, on Feb. 16, with COVID-19 infections down 83% from their January peak, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky announced that the agency would “soon” release updated guidance.
“We are assessing the most important factors based on where we are in the pandemic and will soon put guidance in place that is relevant and encourages prevention measures when they are most needed to protect public health and our hospitals,” Walensky said.
The updated recommendation could come as early as this week. With the debate over in-person vs. virtual school largely settled, masks in schools have emerged as a flashpoint that could have implications in the midterm elections.
“Children have faced significant hardship as a result of the pandemic, and many of the ill effects of decisions over the past two years, such as learning loss, which was compounded by the difficulties with remote learning, hit low-income populations hardest,” said Nicole Neily, president of Parents Defending Education. “Parents are justifiably upset to see their children continue to be used as political pawns, particularly when it has become abundantly clear that America’s ruling class exempts themselves from the kinds of policies that are still forced on our children.”
The movement enjoys bipartisan support, at least below the federal level. Hogan has urged his blue state’s board of education to “move forward and take masks off the kids” and called on the CDC to take action. Across the Potomac, multiple Democratic state senators joined their Republican counterparts in passing a law allowing Virginia parents to decide whether or not their children wear masks at school.
While a popular mantra throughout the pandemic has been to “follow the science,” it may be that political science is fueling the anti-mandate movement.
Seven in 10 people agreed with the statement, “It’s time we accept that COVID is here to stay and we just need to get on with our lives,” in a recent Monmouth University poll. Acceptance of the virus as a part of everyday life varied by political affiliation, with 89% of Republicans agreeing versus 71% of independents and 47% of Democrats.
With the White House slow to act, GOPers are pleading with Biden to end the COVID-19 public health emergency, which is set to expire on April 15.
“It is long past time your administration show leadership in moving us to pre-pandemic life,” reads a letter signed by more than 70 House Republicans. “Instead of keeping us in a permanent state of emergency, it is time for this administration to put people first and stop clinging to powers you currently enjoy under the PHE.”
Frustration about endless restrictions combined with Biden’s low approval ratings could spell disaster for Democrats in November. But, even if Biden embraces a return to normal, it could prove too late to change public perceptions. Alternatively, if current trends hold and the White House gets on board, the issue could sit firmly in the rearview mirror this fall.
“While the public is weary and governors are attuned to mask mandates and restrictions as being a cause, this issue will be settled in the next month or so, well before the midterms at the end of the year,” said Anand Parekh, chief medical adviser at the Bipartisan Policy Center. “Thus, I don’t see this as being a political issue unless politicians continue to make it one.”
Biden made much of bowing to public health experts and scientists during the 2020 campaign, a stance that could now be hindering efforts to move past the pandemic.
Any loosening of the CDC’s recommendations would represent a change in policy rather than a reflection of the decline in the omicron surge. Agency guidance says that people should wear masks indoors where transmission is “substantial,” meaning 50 to 100 cases per 100,000, or “high,” meaning 100 cases for every 100,000 people. The country is far above those rates, at 309.8 cases per 100,000.
By current CDC metrics, nearly the entire United States is unprepared to ditch masks.
