correctly instead of the cloth masks, for example, some of the other masks. is that the right step? it s about time and actually way past time for the cdc to be changing mask guidance. covid is airborne. we have known this for many months. we also know omicron is the most transmissible variant we have seen yet, and the best way for us to protect against it is to have the best possible mask. it is just a real shame that i still see so many people walk around with a single layer cloth mask. these are individuals who might be thinking they re protecting themselves when they re not. if you are going to a crowded indoor setting, you should be wearing at least a surgical mask with cloth mask on top or ideally, kn95, kn 94 mask. that s the standard and that s what the cdc should be recommending and the federal government be providing to individuals that cannot afford
possible area of the hospital to treat patients just like we did with delta. reporter: in massachusetts, in an effort to deal with the patient overload, hospitals are pausing elective surgeries. kayla st. pierre is 32 and waiting to have kidney surgery there, a surgery now considered elective. kayla is terrified. she s been through over 200 operations. the waiting game can be a real struggle emotionally. reporter: and amid this surge, the cdc now updating it s mask guidance, saying loosely woven cloth masks provide the least protection. higher quality masks, like n-95s and kn-95s, are safer options. the agency stopping short of urging all americans to upgrade their masks, drawing immediate criticism from some health experts. the approach that the cdc is taking right now with masking, i think, just adds to the confusion. we should be making it loud and clear that the n-95 respirators are really the only thing that will really protect you. reporter: but an alarming statistic to
system, which is overwhelming the system we re seeing currently. the other big news today, the cdc updated its mask guidance to reflect the need for more protection from omicron. i think a lot of our viewers have heard all of our doctors speaking for months about the need for better masks. why did they wait until now to do this? alicia, they are behind the public on this one. i think a lot of people have sort of many experts, including myself v talked about the importance particularly within indoor crowded spaces, so much greater protection than n95s or kn95s can present because they re a better blockage over a longer pert of time if you re around people. the reason there s always been this hesitation is will people use these masks in a way that would offer them the greatest amount of protection? it s interesting as they terminal guidance where they clearly say look, cloth masks provide some protection but the highest is n95s and kn95s.
our daily lives when covid won t be a daily crisis. you heard him talk about that in his press conference two weeks ago that is something that jeff zion said during the covid briefing earlier today is there is active and ongoing work plan to develop a path forward and this is there is constant discussion about that. i think what you are referring to as the it relates to new york, which is an important component, especially as americans are consuming what it means and where we are going, of masks and what the mask guidance is. will: brian, i think this administration will soon change their messaging on mandates and on covid. ainsley: they are going to have to. will: they will declare victory. they will say their policies pos have covid. these measures are the reasons we are coming out of this. i want to say as we come out of this, let s look at what has changed and it will tell us how we got into this. nothing in the past two weeks has changed. no science has changed. no objective
and the cdc has access to different science sometimes? we don t look at it through that prism. these states, it s important to know that they allow for decisions to be made by local school districts. where we have great concern, if a kid or a parent chooses to wear a mask or school district decides that they should keep mask guidance in place and leaders preventing them from doing that. states, leaders will look at the science and data about what s going on, they ll make decisions about local school districts. they have always made these decisions. go ahead. my question is about the supreme court process. martha: good afternoon. i m martha maccallum. fox news head quarters in new york. we have three big stories, plus more ahead today. the first, the united states military says that the white house and the state department