Commentary: Atlantic Writer Rips New CDC Mask Guidelines As Too Strict

“Get vaccinated, wear a mask” appears to be the anthem of this spring, but over a year after COVID-19 first arrived in the United States, an increasing number of people are starting to question the virus orthodoxy.

Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a new wave of mask guidelines that detail how masks should be worn in certain outdoor situations, and according to vaccination status.

Even the liberal Atlantic magazine had something to say about the “rigid and binary” guidelines and complicated recommendations for which the CDC offered no explanation.

“By issuing recommendations that are simultaneously too timid and too complicated, the CDC is repeating a mistake that’s hounded America’s pandemic response,” a Wednesday article in The Atlantic by Turkish sociologist Zeynep Tufekci reads.

“The new guidelines are rigid and binary, and aren’t accompanied by explanations or a link to an accessible version of the underlying science, which would empower people to both understand them better and figure things out for themselves.”

The criticism extended further, as the article dissected the CDC’s charts.

“The chart for outdoor activities suggests that masks are not necessary for walks or runs, for example, if people are by themselves or with their household, regardless of vaccination status. However, unvaccinated people are advised to wear a mask at ‘small’ outdoor gatherings that include other unvaccinated people, but the people are still marked ‘safest.'”