Walensky argued that the decline in business and other benchmarks should be seen in the context of where the country was during its recent crippling boom.
“It’s encouraging to see these trends slow down, but it’s coming from an extremely high place,” Walensky said.
She also warned that new, more contagious variants of the virus detected in the US mean the country could see another increase in cases and deaths.
“We can not wait,” Walensky said. “We have to keep wearing masks. We need to continue with our current mitigation measures. And we must continue to vaccinate as soon as the vaccine is available to us. ‘
Walensky’s comments come amid pressure from the Biden government to reopen schools. Her agency on Friday released updated reopening guidelines that focused on physical distance and mask wear. President Joe Biden in his first days in office issued an executive order requiring masks on federal property.
In a separate appearance on ‘Fox News Sunday’, Walensky examined whether by the end of 2021 Americans could meet safely without wearing masks.
“I think it depends a lot on how we act now,” she said.