we ll fight this variant with science and speed, not chaos and confusion. reporter: don, we re learning the white house is expected to take a step extending the mask mandate on travel. of course, that comes on airplanes, on trains, all of this mass transit purpose you have to wear a mask for for the last several months, we expect the biden administration to extend that now that they re concerned about variants popping up in the united states. kaitlan collins, thank you for that. appreciate it. joining me is during megan randy, professor of emergency medicine at brown university. doctor, so good to have you. let s discuss this. we re learning new details about the first case of the omicron variant detected in the u.s. what should we expect to hear next about it in this country, is it a matter of time before we hear about community spread, that it s spreading among folks? that is exactly right. this is the first of many cases that will be reported over the coming days and over th
countries detected the variant in their nation raising questions about the value of travel bans. no one feels, i certainly don t, that a travel ban will prevent people who are infected from coming to the united states. but we needed to buy some time. reporter: fauci offering this advice for americans hoping to attend holiday parties. indoor typesetting settings know family is vaccinated you can feel safe not wearing a mask but when you re in a public congregate setting you do not know the vaccination status of the people involved, it s very prudent to wear a mask. reporter: tomorrow president biden is set to deliver a comprehensive speech laying out his plan for combatting covid in the coming months. we ll fight this virus with science and speed, not chaos and confusion. reporter: don, we re learning the white house is expected to take a step extending the mask mandate on travel. of course, that comes on airplanes, on trains, all of this mass transit purpose you have to wea