Twitter Erupts After CDC Director Walensky Tells Congress Masking Guidance Doesn’t Really Change With Time

Twitter went wild after CDC Director Rochelle Walensky admitted to Twitter that the mask guidance for children by the public health agency “doesn’t really change with age.”

Walensky, who was present before the House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on February 8, stated that the CDC would continue to recommend the use of masks in schools where COVID-19 levels have reached high levels.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Republican from Washington) claimed that the CDC is not the only agency to recommend masking for children under 2 years old. She asked Walensky to describe the process and timeline that the CDC uses to update, modify, or withdraw its current guidance.

The Cochrane Library has published a review that examined 78 controlled trials in order to determine whether mitigation strategies such as masking and handwashing could reduce the spread of COVID-19. According to the review, mask-wearing in communities probably makes “little to no difference.”

Walensky stated that the study does not include random clinical trials that looked at other respiratory viruses. She pointed out that COVID-19 can spread even before symptoms appear, making it difficult to assess the validity of some of the study’s findings.

Walensky continued speaking, Rodgers intervened, grabbed her podium mic and asked why children are still wearing masks to this day.

According to the CDC chief, masking guidelines depend on the virus’s community levels. He said it was good that most communities are in the low- or moderate range of spread and that masking is not advised.

Some prominent Twitter users were not happy with Walensky’s explanation about masking. They claimed that the CDC wasn’t following the most recent science.

Red State’s website featured a story about a study that found COVID mitigation efforts in schools, which included forced masking, were extremely effective in stopping the spread. Los Angeles County officials, including Barbara Ferrer, Public Health Director, were the authors of the study that was used by the CDC in many states to establish school mask requirements.

J.D., University of Toronto Assistant Haltigan called Walensky an “innumerate”, and her comments “utterly absurd.”

Philip Holloway, WSB Radio’s legal analyst and Townhall columnist, wrote that “After all the @CDCgov Mask Nagging, Mandating, Coercing, Ordering, Badging and Shaming, I guess I should expect them to follow real science, reverse course on masks.” Instead, @CDCDirector reveals her sunk cost biases and digs in.