White House warns against loosening COVID restrictions as states do just that

White House warns against loosening COVID restrictions as states do just that Massachusetts, New York and Iowa are among those relaxing restrictions. ABC News ABC News

The Biden administration's coronavirus task force said it does not agree with states that have begun to loosen restrictions as cases begin to drop from the all-time peak endured over the last month, warning during a White House briefing with reporters on Monday that the increased risk of variants spreading across the country are reason to keep those restrictions up, not weaken them.

States like New York and Massachusetts have recently backed off some stricter restrictions imposed during the winter months, like banning all indoor dining. And in a more extreme case, Iowa's governor repealed the mask mandate across the state.

But it's important to note that the U.S. has been here before, experts said, most notably over the summer when states pulled back their restrictions, reopening after lockdowns and bringing on another spike. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky, chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci and coronavirus adviser Andy Slavitt were clear in Monday's briefing that they were encouraging states not to go that route again.

“We have yet to control this pandemic. We still have this emerging threat of variants, and I would just simply discourage any of those activities," Walensky said, regarding loosened restrictions. "We really need to keep all of the mitigation measures at play here if we're really going get control of this pandemic."

She urged all Americans to “keep your guard up” as cases and hospital admissions drop — noting that the country is still seeing well over 100,000 cases a day and far more hospitalizations per day than were reported during the summer peak. ...