As states end mask rules, how to make the best choice for you and your family

As states end mask rules, how to make the best choice for you and your family

Transcript¹

As states begin to relax mask mandates³, individuals have to make their own decisions about how and when to mask.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Nevada is the latest state to announce its statewide mask mandate² is going away. It joins a lot of other states, including New York and California, that all announced this week, practically in unison⁴, that their mask mandates are ending. President Biden weighed in on this last night after he was asked on NBC whether states and cities were moving too fast to loosen their mask mandates.

(SOUNDBITE OF NBC BROADCAST)

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I committed that I would follow the science, the science as put forward by the CDC and the federal people. And I think it's probably premature⁵. But it's - you know, it's a tough call.

MARTIN: NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin has been reporting on all things mask and joins us this morning. Hey, Selena.

SELENA SIMMONS-DUFFIN, BYLINE⁶: Hi, Rachel.

MARTIN: Is there any rhyme or reason to why all these governors are making these decisions right now, practically at the same time?

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: You know, it's a bit of a head scratcher. It is not obvious what all these governors were seeing in the numbers. You know, some public health experts say these moves are justified⁷, including infectious disease physician Emily Landon at the University of Chicago. She has advised Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat⁸ who announced this week that mandate would end a few weeks from now. Landon says the COVID-19 trend lines are looking really good, and the risk is going down.

EMILY LANDON: It's OK to say, look. People need a break from this. Let's choose the time when it's going to be safest to give them a break.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: But there are others in the public health world who are really critical. They say this isn't the right time yet. They say the coordination⁹ between all of these Democratic governors looks politically convenient with the midterms coming up. And that would be hypocritical since this is the party that claimed it would always follow the science, as Biden said. Gregg Gonsalves is an epidemiologist at Yale.

GREGG GONSALVES: What we're seeing now is state after state roll back mask mandates in the context of sort of mass death happening, right? Cases are down, yes. Hospitalizations are down. But we're basically heading into 2,500 deaths per day in the United States.

MARTIN: And the CDC has stayed firm on its guidance, right?

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Yeah. I would say adding to the confusion here is CDC's silence. The agency's director, Rochelle Walensky, has said about mask, really for months, our mask guidance hasn't changed. Look at our website. And you remember what the CDC guidance on masks is, right, Rachel?

MARTIN: Not really, Selena. No (laughter), to be honest.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Don't feel bad. It's not easy to remember. CDC guidance is if you live in an area where community spread is high or substantial, you should mask indoors in public, and you should also pay attention to local hospital capacity, vaccination¹⁰ rates, capacity for early detection of variants¹¹ and at-risk populations. Cynthia Baur, a professor at the University of Maryland who specializes in health literacy and communication, told me CDC's guidance for people with five metrics to think about is way too complicated.

CYNTHIA BAUR: It's too many things. And yet they haven't told us how to weight those things. If there's five things, do I weight each thing one-fifth or 20%, right?

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: She says if you're going to put the responsibility of making this risk calculation on regular people, you need to give them one metric to think about. And you need to give them one place to find it.

MARTIN: Right. So what is that thing? I mean, I think that would be so helpful. If you just had one metric to measure, then you could make your own decisions for yourself and your family.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: I know. But I got so many different answers from people on what that one thing could be.

MARTIN: (Laughter).

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Some said community spread. Just see if there are a lot of cases. Others said with omicron, there might not - that might not be the where you want to look. So pay attention to hospitalizations. And this is a problem for individuals and businesses and local governments and other institutions that are now, pretty much everywhere in the country, going to have to make this calculus¹² on their own.

MARTIN: NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin, thank you.

SIMMONS-DUFFIN: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

3 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

4 unison   

n.步调一致，行动一致

参考例句：

• The governments acted in unison to combat terrorism.这些国家的政府一致行动对付恐怖主义。
• My feelings are in unison with yours.我的感情与你的感情是一致的。

5 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

8 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

9 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

10 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

11 variants   

n.变体( variant的名词复数 )；变种；变型；（词等的）变体

参考例句：

• Those variants will be preserved in the'struggle for existence". 这些变异将在“生存竞争”中被保留下来。 来自辞典例句
• Like organisms, viruses have variants, generally called strains. 与其他生物一样，病毒也有变种，一般称之为株系。 来自辞典例句

12 calculus   

n.微积分；结石

参考例句：

• This is a problem where calculus won't help at all.对于这一题，微积分一点也用不上。
• After studying differential calculus you will be able to solve these mathematical problems.学了微积分之后，你们就能够解这些数学题了。