Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that he will not rule out that Americans still need to wear masks in 2022, even when the country returns to a certain degree of “normalcy.”
When asked by the state of CNN Union if masks will be needed next year, Fauci replied, “I think it’s possible that way, and again, it really depends on what you mean normally.”
The director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases said he does not know when the country will return to pre-pandemic life, but that he believes that by the end of the year “we will have a significant degree of normalcy beyond the terrible burden we have all experienced over the last year. “
“When we enter autumn and winter, at the end of the year I agree [President Joe Biden] completely that we will approach a certain degree of normalcy, ”Fauci said.
“It may not be exactly as it was in November 2019, but it will be much better than what we are doing right now.”
But he said the use of masks will depend on the prevalence of the virus.
“It depends on the level of virus dynamics in the community and that’s really important because … if you see the level going down very, very low, I want you to keep going down to a baseline that has virtually no threat – it will never be zero, but a minimal and minimal threat that will be exposed to someone infected, ”said Fauci.