Surgeon general: Renewed mask mandates in L.A. County, elsewhere 'very reasonable'
July 18 (UPI) – Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Sunday said it was "very reasonable" for local officials to reestablish COVID-19 restrictions as cases are on the rise throughout the United States.
Appearing on ABC News' This Week, Murthy acknowledged that the United States is seeing an increase in cases "particularly among the unvaccinated in many parts of the country" as Los Angeles County reinstated indoor mask mandates beginning Sunday.
Murthy said he was "deeply concerned" about the state of vaccinations in the United States.
"We've made so much progress over this past year, but what I worry about are those that we still have – millions of people in our country who are not vaccinated," he said.
In an interview with Fox News Sunday, Murthy said he has "been in dialogue with a number of technology companies in good faith efforts" after issuing an advisory on Thursday that COVID-19 misinformation, particularly on social media and elsewhere online, is "a public threat."
"This is about the health of Americans and the reality is that misinformation is still spreading like wildfire in our country, aided and abetted by technology platforms," he said.
Murthy's comments came after President Joe Biden said platforms such as Facebook are "killing people" by allowing misinformation to spread, prompting the social media giant to respond that "Facebook is helping save lives" by providing tools to help Americans locate vaccines.
The surgeon general said Sunday that the government has a role in addressing misinformation and "investing in research" to learn how it's affecting Americans while acknowledging that platforms such as Facebook may have good intentions but can still fail to properly combat misinformation.
"Intention is good, but at the end of the day it doesn't save the life of somebody who is misled by misinformation on these sites, who didn't get vaccinated, who got sick and lost their life as a result," Murthy said."I'm asking these companies to step up and take responsibility for what's happening on their side. I'm asking them to look out for the people across this country whose lives depend on having access to accurate information."
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2021/07/18/surgeon-genera-Vivek-Murthy-very-reasonable-renewed-mask-mandates-Los-Angeles-County/3721626631326/