Fauci admits CDC summer camp guidance 'looks a bit strict'

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CDC: Play summer camp sports outdoors with masks

Fox News medical contributor Nicole Saphier on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance for vaccinated people to take masks off during outdoor sporting events.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) coronavirus guidance for summer camps currently recommends that even while outdoors masks be worn by everyone over age 2 regardless of vaccination status and that campers maintain three feet of distance, which Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday acknowledged "looks a bit strict."

"I wouldn’t call [the guidelines] excessive, Savannah, but they certainly are conservative," Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser, told TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie. "I think what you're going to start to see is really in real-time continually reevaluating that for its practicality. Because you’re right, people look at that and they say, 'Well is that being a little bit too far right now.'"

Last week, the agency dropped some restrictions for vaccinated and unvaccinated people, including wearing masks while walking, running or biking outdoors with members of the same household, and attending small, outdoor gatherings with fully vaccinated family and friends. Fully vaccinated individuals can now also safely attend a small outdoor gathering with others who are unvaccinated, and dine at outdoor restaurants with friends from multiple households.

Fauci said he expects the agency to 'continually reevaluate' the guidelines. (iStock)

In announcing the update, the CDC’s director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said the decision was made based on science, which reflects low risk of transmission of the virus while outdoors. Critics of the current guidelines for outdoors have questioned why children, who are already at a lower risk of severe illness from coronavirus, are not being considered in the updated guidelines.

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"The CDC recommendations for summer camps not only lack scientific backing but go against reliable data," Fox News medical contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier, previously stated. "The CDC has consistently been three months behind the data with their recommendations and our children are suffering because of it. Outdoor transmission is negligible, especially among young children. Children wearing masks outside is futile and does little except hinder their development and make good optics for the mask mandate supporters."

Fauci on Wednesday acknowledged that the "CDC makes decisions based on science," and will "continually reevaluate" the camp guidance.

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"You’re right, it looks a bit strict, a bit stringent, but that’s the reason why they keep looking at that and trying to reevaluate literally in real time whether that’s the practical way to go," Fauci told TODAY.