Capitol Physician Brian Monahan (picutred) will decide if the House chamber should resume mask mandates, Nancy Pelosi said
Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that she will leave it up to the Capitol Physician to decide if mask mandates should be reimplemented on members and their staff in the congressional chambers.
'If you're asking me, I think that we should mask,' Speaker Pelosi told ABC This Week on Sunday morning.
'But in terms of officially for the House floor, that's up to the Capitol physician,' she added.
Last year, Pelosi did implement a mask mandate for the House floor and when some lawmakers refused to follow those rules, imposed a $500 fine for violators.
Questions emerged over whether the mandate would be coming back to the Capitol after Pelosi and other members of Congress were seen wearing masks on the Hill after unmasking earlier this summer.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released updated guidance in May saying vaccinated Americans no longer had to mask up.
'Well, I wore my mask here,' Pelosi told ABC's George Stephanopoulos as she joined him for a virtual interview from the Capitol.
She said that Physician of Congress Brian Monahan's office would 'will give us his recommendation about' whether members will be required to mask up again regardless of vaccination status.
'If you're asking me, I think that we should mask,' Speaker Pelosi told ABC on Sunday morning. 'But in terms of officially for the House floor, that's up to the Capitol physician'
Over the last month there has been a spike in coronavirus cases as the Delta variant spreads across the country and breakthrough cases in vaccinated people are on the rise.
Some areas of the country, like Los Angeles and Las Vegas, are reimplementing mask mandates or recommendations for vaccinated people as cases surge.
'We are, I think, very well-prepared to protect the American people. Let's just hope that they follow science,' Pelosi said in urging hesitant Americans to get vaccinated.
'Some of these decisions are regional about requirements of masks,' she added.
Earlier in July a group of 60 or so Democratic Texas lawmakers fled to Washington, D.C. and met with several lawmakers and Vice President Kamala Harris. A few days later, six members of the Texas legislature tested positive for COVID-19, despite being vaccinated.
One of Pelosi's staffers who helped usher the group through the Capitol and a White House official also tested positive. Both individuals are fully vaccinated and attended the same reception last Wednesday.
Also this month at least one case of the coronavirus Delta variant was detected at the Capitol.
Following this, Pelosi was seen wearing a mask at the Capitol. She also required masks at a Capitol event last Wednesday.
According to the 'Member Arrival Instructions' for a reception for the new sergeant at arms on Wednesday, all guests were 'expected to wear a mask'.
A Wednesday evening report also revealed President Joe Biden is considering recommending that all Americans, regardless of vaccination status, go back to masking up.
It comes as the U.S. recorded 52,032 new cases on Wednesday with a seven-day rolling average of 39,939, which is a 268 percent increase from the 10,834 average recorded three weeks ago.
Every single state and the District of Columbia is reporting either infections rising or holding steady in the last week, according to a DailyMail.com analysis of Johns Hopkins data.
Additionally, 333 COVID-19 deaths were recorded on Wednesday with a seven-day rolling average of 264.
Pelosi said guests at a Capitol reception Wednesday night were 'expected to wear a mask' after one of her vaccinated staffers contracted coronavirus
He also said during a CNN town hall in Cincinnati, Ohio on Wednesday evening that children should mask up as they return to school in the fall.
'The CDC is going to say that what you should do is, everyone under the age of 12 should probably be wearing masks in school,' Biden said in answering a question from a school employee. 'That's probably what's going to happen.'
'I do not tell any scientists what they should do,' Biden added.
Multiple sources told the Washington Post that high-level discussions are underway between top White House aides and Biden administration officials over whether the nation's mask guidance should be updated following a spike in COVID-19 cases and plateau in vaccination rates.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) relaxed its mask guidance back in May, saying fully vaccinated Americans could go without masks in almost all indoor and outdoor settings, with the exception of public transport.
But since then, the Delta variant has spread rapidly, now accounting for 83 percent of all new infections on US soil and sending COVID-19 cases soaring 244 percent in the last three weeks.
The potential return to requirements for face coverings at the Capitol complex follows three lawmakers losing their appeals to get out of paying a fine for not previously adhering to the requirements.
The number of COVID cases in the U.S. is rapidly increasing
The number of deaths, however, has not spiked with the corresponding case surges
