On March 4, Mr. Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that removing the mask requirement would pose a risk: `This has happened before. When measures to protect public health

He commented: `America should not relax anti-epidemic principles before the number of infections drops below 10,000 cases per day. 2 million Americans are being vaccinated every day, which means the number of protected people will increase.`

Ms. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), hopes people will comply with anti-epidemic measures, even when states are lifting restrictions, going against CDC recommendations.

Ms. Walensky’s comments were directed at the governors of Texas and Mississippi, after they announced they would lift mask mandates and allow businesses to open at full capacity, effective immediately or within the next few days.

Renae Eze, press secretary for Texas Governor Greg Abbott, announced: `Based on the recovery, vaccination progress, reduced hospitalizations and safety measures that Texas is applying, the

The governor said county leaders can apply risk mitigation strategies if the number of Covid-19 hospitalizations in the area exceeds 15% of hospital beds for 7 consecutive days.

In Houston, Dr. Joseph Varon, director of United Memorial Medical Center, said he had asked staff to prepare for a surge in hospitalized patients.

In Mississippi, Governor Tate Reeves said, starting March 3, the state will no longer have mask requirements and will allow businesses to operate at full capacity.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine also waived some regulations, including limiting attendance at events to 300 people.

On March 4, President Joe Biden harshly criticized states for relaxing regulations, saying it was a `big mistake` and `masks` will make a difference.

Across the United States, health leaders have urged state governments to wait for the number of people vaccinated to increase and the number of cases to decrease before relaxing safety measures.

Online press conference of the Covid-19 Response Team on March 1 with the participation of Mr. Fauci and Ms. Walensky.

Although the number of Covid-19 cases in the US is currently much lower than in January, experts advise caution.

The current number of cases is close to the summer 2020 peak of 67,030 cases on July 20.

According to the CDC, in the US, more than 51.7 million people have been vaccinated with at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine.

Many vaccination sites in the US have begun offering the recently approved Johnson & Johnson (J&J) single-dose vaccine.

In other developments, pharmaceutical company Merck decided to join hands with rival J&J to produce a one-dose vaccine.

The CDC warns people who have received one dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine not to replace the second dose with the J&J vaccine.