The *New* New Phase of the Pandemic

The Biden administration’s new pandemic rules and countermeasures intend to bring us into a “new phase of the pandemic.” The CDC also released new guidelines for masking, and now about 70% of Americans can go mask free. What do these new guidelines actually say about what stage of the pandemic we’re in? Guest: Megan Ranney, emergency room doctor at Brown Emergency Medicine. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices