Surgeon general defends masks in school, but says goal is to 'pull back' on restrictions

Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy answered questions from the Senate Finance Committee dealing with youth mental health on Tuesday, and one subject that came up on more than one occasion was whether schools should require students to wear face masks to protect against COVID-19.

"What we know … is that masks are a helpful tool to help reduce spread of the virus," Murthy said, defending the concept of using masks in schools. "When we look at schools in fact that have masking there is less spread and there are in fact fewer school closures as a result of there being less spread of the infection."