CDC’s Walensky clarifies guidance for summer camps
At Wednesday’s White House COVID-19 response team briefing, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, responded to a question about mask guidance for summer camps.
Video Transcript
- Hi, I wanted to ask about the summer camp guidance. I was wondering if Dr. Walensky could respond to some criticism about having kids wear masks outdoors, given that you guys have all talked about the low level spread outdoor and the low level of transmission among younger children. Dr. Walensky, could you talk at all about the data or the evidence that the CDC used to make that determination that kids need to be wearing masks outdoors in all scenarios regardless of vaccination status? Is there any middle ground there where kids wouldn't have to wear masks outdoors at camp?
ROCHELLE WALENSKY: Yeah, thank you for that question. So, we have two sets of guidance. We have guidance for masking and if you're vaccinated or unvaccinated outdoors, and we also have this camp guidance. Certainly, if we have authorization for 12 to 15-year-olds and they can get vaccinated before going to camp, that's what I would advocate for so that they can take their masks off outdoors.
We also have guidance-- the camp guidance and the outdoor guidance for individuals who are unvaccinated. So, those who are 12 and under, who are attending camp. And we have some availability of wear-- not wearing your mask outdoors in small groups, in groups of the other children who are vaccinated. What we're really trying to avoid in this camp guidance is what we saw in outbreaks in camps last summer.
So, if you have five 10-year-olds who are on a soccer field, all in front of the same soccer ball, we're trying to make sure that they're not a lot of heavy breathing around a singular soccer ball with five kids around it at the same time. But for spread out activities, our outdoor mask guidance for unvaccinated people in small groups, allows for those kids to be unvaccinated. And what we really are trying to do is ensure that all of these kids can have a really good camp experience, and keep the camps open without any outbreaks.
