Fauci’s Mask Forecast: Indoor Rules Could Relax, Use May Become Seasonal

CNN: It May Be Time To Relax Indoor Masks Mandates, Fauci Says 
Dr. Anthony Fauci says federal guidance on wearing face coverings indoors may change soon. Sunday on ABC News, Fauci was asked whether it's time to start relaxing indoor masks requirements. Fauci replied, "I think so, and I think you're going to probably be seeing that as we go along, and as more people get vaccinated." (Mascarenhas and Maxouris, 5/9)

CNBC: Fauci Says Face Masks Could Become Seasonal After Covid Pandemic
White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that people may decide to wear masks during certain seasons when respiratory illnesses are more prevalent. “I think people have gotten used to the fact that wearing masks, clearly if you look at the data it diminishes respiratory diseases, we’ve had practically a non-existent flu season this year merely because people were doing the kinds of public health things that were directed predominately against Covid-19,” Fauci said during an interview on NBC Sunday program “Meet the Press.” (Macias, 5/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Restriction Guidance Could Ease As More Americans Get Vaccinated
Biden administration officials said Sunday that the U.S. is entering a new phase of the pandemic in which many vaccinated Americans can begin returning to normal activities and signaled that the federal government will further relax mask-wearing recommendations as more people get shots. “I would say we are turning the corner,” Jeff Zients, President Biden’s Covid-19 coordinator, told CNN’s “State of the Union.” The administration said last week it is focused on helping hesitant and hard-to-reach Americans get shots, with a goal of having 70% of the adult population receive at least one dose by July 4. (Restuccia, 5/9)

CNN: The Country May Be Turning A Corner On Covid-19. Here's When We Could See Cases And Deaths Plummet, Expert Says 
While the pace of Covid-19 vaccinations may be slowing in the US, experts are optimistic about where the country will be in just a matter of weeks. "This summer is going to seem so much closer to normal than we've had in a very long time," Dr. Jonathan Reiner, professor of medicine and surgery at George Washington University, told CNN on Sunday. "The key statistic to think about is ... what percentage of the adult population has received at least one vaccination." (Maxouris, 5/10)

Dr. Fauci shares his thoughts on a fall surge, the flu and next Mother's Day —

The Hill: Fauci: 'Unlikely' US Will See COVID-19 Surge In Fall, Winter
Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious diseases expert, said Sunday that the U.S. is unlikely to see a surge of COVID-19 infections over the fall and winter like it did last year, pointing to the widespread availability of vaccines as a "game changer" that would prevent future surges. (Bowden, 5/9)

NBC News: After Year With Virtually No Flu, Scientists Worry The Next Season Could Be A Bad One
More than a year after the pandemic started, Covid-19 is still ravaging parts of the world, but now scientists are warning that another virus could be a serious threat in the coming months: influenza. This season, the flu virtually disappeared, with less than 2,000 lab-confirmed cases in the United States to date, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a typical flu season, the U.S. could see more than 200,000 lab-confirmed cases by this time of year, a tiny fraction of the true number of cases, estimated to range from 9 million to 45 million annually. (Dunn, 5/9)

Fox News: Mother's Day 2022: Fauci Predicts Country Will Be 'As Close To Back To Normal As We Can' By Next Year
Dr. Anthony Fauci predicted Sunday that America will be "as close to back to normal as we can" by next Mother’s Day if certain conditions are met. Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the White House's chief medical adviser, made the prediction during ABC’s "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos, who had asked him to "give everyone a sense of what the country is going to look like next Mother’s Day." "I hope that next Mother’s Day, we’re going to see a dramatic difference than what we’re seeing right now. I believe that we will be about as close to back to normal as we can. And there’s some conditions to that, George," Fauci said during the segment. "We’ve got to make sure that we get the overwhelming proportion of the population vaccinated." (Pagones, 5/9)

Also —

Bloomberg: Fauci Says ‘No Doubt’ U.S. Has Undercounted Covid Deaths
There’s “no doubt” the U.S. has undercounted its number of deaths from Covid-19, which now stand at over 581,000, President Joe Biden’s top medical adviser said. But Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that a University of Washington analysis published May 6 that the true toll is probably over 900,000 is “a bit more than I would have thought.” “Sometimes the models are right on line, sometimes they’re a bit off,” he said. (Krasny and Czuczka, 5/9)

Axios: The End Of Quarantine 
Long quarantines were a necessary tool to slow the COVID-19 pandemic during its first phases, but better and faster tests — plus vaccines — mean they can be scaled back considerably. Quick tests and regular surveillance methods that identify who is actually infectious can take the place of the two-week or longer isolation periods that have been common for travelers and people who might have been exposed to the virus, speeding the safe reopening of schools and workplaces. (Walsh, 5/8)