Bill Sheridan

A former head of the FDA says it is no time that the US should be more aggressive about lifting COVID-19 based restrictions.

In a recent interview, Dr. Scott Gottlieb said the decline in new cases is locked in at this point, and he doesn’t expect another surge, and therefore it is time for outdoor mask mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions to be lifted.

Public health officials should take a more relaxed stance on outdoor activities in general, said Gottlieb, who once headed the FDA and now serves on the board of Covid vaccine maker Pfizer.

“People could choose to wear a mask if they want to. I think there shouldn’t be requirements that they have to wear masks outdoors,” the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner said on CNBC “Squawk Box.”

He expressed similar thoughts in an Op-Ed in the Walls Street Journal. In the Op-Ed, Dr. Gottlieb suggested the CDC update its guidelines to permit outdoor gatherings without face masks. He said the policy process in Washington, D.C. is “moving too slowly” and should, instead, follow states like Texas and New Hampshire by relaxing outdoor requirements.

In the Squawk Box Live interview, Gottlieb added that he felt that steps should be taken “to allow more gatherings outside, allow more large groups, allow sporting events, things of that nature. The weather is warming up. We have the opportunity to bring more activities outside. We know activities outside are lower risk than things done indoors.”

White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci agrees about the lessened risk of coronavirus transmission outdoors. In an unrelated interview this past weekend, he suggested the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could modify its stance on wearing masks outside.

“What I believe … the country is going to be hearing soon is updated guidelines from the CDC,” Fauci said on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” “The CDC is a science-based organization. They don’t want to make any guidelines unless they look at the data and the data backs it up. But when you look around at the commonsense situation, obviously the risk is really very low, particularly if you’re vaccinated.”

President Joe Biden is expected to announce new CDC guidance on wearing masks outdoors as early as Tuesday, a source familiar with the discussions told NBC News. However, the source cautioned that the recommendations are still being finalized, and they’ll likely include guidance for fully vaccinated people versus those who are not.

Gottlieb said he believes it is time to do away with outdoor mask requirements because even though other strains of the virus are popping up around the country, vaccination levels in the U.S. are driving down new infections.

The former head of the FDA’s recommendations come as the CDC has reported more than half of Americans have received their first dose, and nearly 40 percent are fully vaccinated. More than 42% of the U.S. population has received at least one vaccine dose, including 28.5% who have been fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.