Braun to CDC: ‘Let this be solved at the grass roots level’

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA21 and AP) - Sen. Mike Braun on Tuesday argued that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is wrong to reinstate guidance involving stricter COVID-19 practices -- a move expected to be announced shortly.

Braun, in a video posted online, criticized federal efforts to combat the virus and suggested that decisions are best left to the general public and local leaders.

“Let this be solved at the grass roots level. Let local governments and businesses deal with it," he said. “Exercise individual responsibility. That’s the key.

"No more mandates for masking, things that didn’t work from the get-go, unless it makes common sense to do so.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to backpedal on some of its masking guidelines and recommend that even vaccinated people wear masks indoors in parts of the U.S. where the coronavirus is surging.

That's according to a federal official who spoke to The Associated Press.

The move comes just days before the start of the new school year in most of the country.

Locally, several districts -- and many colleges and universities -- have taken steps to ease masking rules in advance of the return to class.

Those supporting rules requiring masks, as well as mandatory vaccinations, point to a spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations that have been especially bad in the South. The country is now averaging more than 57,000 cases a day and 24,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations.