The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden will not rule out a further lockdown to reduce the spread of Covid-19 if scientists recommend such action, according to White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday.
The statement came after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) proposed new guidelines on the use of face masks, with 96,085 new coronavirus cases reported on Thursday, the biggest one -day increase since February.
During a media briefing, Peter Doocy of Fox News said President Biden had previously promised that no further shutdowns would be implemented.
However, he later questioned why U.S. citizens should trust Biden, given that he had made similar agreements on the wearing of face masks before, which the CDC also recommended that people who have been vaccinated to keep wearing face masks.
To answer that question, Jean-Pierre said the decision Biden made was to save lives. The deputy press secretary also thinks Covid-19 data over the past six months shows Biden has saved the lives of many U.S. citizens with faster vaccination rates.
Doocy then asked if the administration would support additional closures if scientists recommended closures be implemented. Jean-Pierre said that the U.S. administration will listen to the opinions of the CDC and experts, as this is a public health situation.
