Biden news live: President removes mask as CDC relaxes guidance

Joe Biden has heralded “a great day for America” as fully vaccinated US citizens were told they no longer need to wear masks outdoors and in most indoor settings.

The president removed his face covering during a meeting with vaccinated Republican lawmakers in the Oval Office when the guidance was announced.

“If you are fully vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a mask,” he said, summarising the guidance and encouraging more Americans to roll up their sleeves. “Get vaccinated — or wear a mask until you do.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continued to advise wearing masks in crowded indoor settings such as buses, planes, hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters.

The CDC and the Biden administration had faced pressure to ease restrictions on fully vaccinated people — those who are two weeks past their last required Covid-19 vaccine dose.

The US’s vaccination campaign has seen virus cases drop to their lowest rate since September, deaths are at their lowest point since last April and the test positivity rate is at the lowest point since the pandemic began.

Meanwhile, Mr Biden has reassured motorists that fuel supplies should start returning to normal this weekend, despite more petrol stations running out of fuel across the southeast nearly a week after a cyberattack on America’s top fuel pipeline.

Colonial Pipeline said it had restarted its entire pipeline system and had begun deliveries in all of its markets late on Thursday.

It will take several days for shipments to return to normal along its 5,500-mile route, it said.

Some markets “may experience, or continue to experience, intermittent service interruptions”, Colonial Pipeline said in a statement, echoing earlier comments from the president, who said earlier there could be “hiccups”.