(CNN)A top health official warned the US could see a surge in Covid-19 infections if Americans let up on restrictions now. He argued, however, that it was entirely avoidable. That was Monday. On Tuesday, Indiana and Virginia unveiled plans to loosen mitigation measures anyway, joining at least a dozen other states that had already done so since the start of the month.
"The continued relaxation of prevention measures while cases are still high and while concerning variants are spreading rapidly throughout the United States is a serious threat to the progress we have made as a nation," said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at a White House briefing.
It wasn't the first time Walensky had brought up such concerns and a chorus of other health experts have made a similar point: While vaccination numbers continue to climb, safety measures will be critical in the coming weeks to help curb another possible surge as dangerous variants spread across the country.
"It's really very much a race," Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN's Christina Maxouris. "It could go either way," he said. Hotez added that a combination of relaxing measures, allowing people to travel and new variants circulating in the country all threatened success.
In Indiana, a face-covering mandate will become a state mask advisory in most public places from April 6, Gov. Eric Holcomb said Tuesday. Decisions about venue capacity will be in the hands of local officials, and customers in restaurants, bars and nightclubs will no longer be required to be seated. In Virginia, indoor and outdoor gathering limits will increase and certain sports and entertainment venues will be able to operate with extra capacity.

Looks like they are trying to hit 1M dead faster than they hit half that so trump can lose that too.