A Centers for Disease Control official is warning states not to fully lift coronavirus restrictions, as some
look to expand indoor capacity, hold concerts or even ditch masks.
Massachusetts, Iowa and Montana among them.
An agency official, Dr.
Rochelle Walensky, had a stark warning in response.
"Please hear me clearly -- At this level of cases with variant
spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained,”
says Dr. Walensky. “These variants are a very real threat to our people and our
progress. Now is not the time to relax the critical safeguards that we know can
stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities. Not when we are so close."
Gov. Phil Murphy is not ditching masks or allowing concerts in New
Jersey, but sports venues are reopening at
limited capacity.