The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering updating its guidelines on the metrics states should use when considering lifting public health measures such as mask mandates, according to four people familiar with the matter.

Agency scientists and officials are debating whether to continue to publicly support using transmission data as a marker for whether to ease public health interventions such as masking, particularly in school settings, the people said. CDC staff are weighing whether the agency should use case rates as a metric or whether it should lean more heavily on hospitalization data, particularly information on hospital capacity. In recent days, the CDC has reached out to external doctors, scientists and public health organizations for input, one of the people with knowledge of the discussions said…

“We should not be using case numbers at all when making decisions about restrictions. The case numbers are not reliable,” said Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University. “The metrics for deciding when restrictions should be lifted should be solely on hospitalizations and ICU capacity. As long as vaccines and boosters continue to protect well among the vaccinated and as long as hospitals are not overwhelmed, restrictions should all be lifted.”