Dr. Leana Wen, in her CNN appearance, told the network that wearing cloth masks during holiday travel offers little to no protection.
"Don't wear a cloth mask. Cloth masks are little more than facial decorations. There's no place for them in light of omicron," Wen told CNN, Townhall tweeted.
"We can't be canceling everything, especially if we are going to be living with COVID for the foreseeable future," she continued. "I would say if you choose to go [for the holidays] make sure that you're vaccinated and boosted, make sure that you're wearing a mask — even though its outdoors [and] there are lots of people packed around you wear a three-ply surgical mask."
At the start of the pandemic in March 2020, when lockdowns were just getting underway, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to the president, told "60 Minutes" that masks do not work for the general population.
"When you're in the middle of an outbreak, wearing a mask might make people feel a little bit better," Fauci said, delivering air quotes. "But it's not providing the perfect protection people think that it is. Often there are unintended consequences: people keep fiddling with the mask, and they keep touching their face."
Fauci made the comment in light of concerns that medical workers would be short on personal protective equipment (PPE).
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.