EDITORIAL: The time is now to further reduce virus restrictions

Some public health experts are becoming more comfortable saying what millions of Americans have been waiting more than a year to hear: The pandemic is petering out in the United States.

In February, Dr. Marty Makary a professor at the Johns Hopkins medical school, predicted that — based on virus trends and the effectiveness of COVID vaccines — the nation would achieve herd immunity by April. He said that many experts agreed with him but were worried about expressing themselves publicly “because people might become complacent and fail to take precautions or might decline the vaccine.”

Dr. Makary’s April prediction was a bit optimistic. Yet signs increasingly indicate that a return to normal life is near for those who want it — and even many public health professionals are admitting that some of their earlier guidelines may have been overkill.

On Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s point man on COVID-19, revealed that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was reconsidering advice that Americans wear masks outdoors. “When you look around at the common-sense situation,” he said on ABC’s “This Week With George Staphanopoulos,” “the risk is really low, especially if you’re vaccinated.”

This comes just weeks after the agency admitted that the constant cleaning and disenfecting of surfaces — standard practice in many businesses as a means of comforting customers and fighting virus transmission — actually does little to reduce the spread of COVID.

Meanwhile, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former head of the Food and Drug Administration, said concerns that another virus wave could engulf the United States are unfounded. Instead, the downturn in cases and deaths is likely permanent, he said.

“I think that these declines we’re seeing are really locked in at this point,” Dr. Gottlieb said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “So I don’t think we need to be as worried that as we take our foot off the brake, things are going to surge again.”

While there will continue to be virus cases in coming months, the increasing number of vaccinated Americans has reduced the nation’s vulnerabilty, he said. “They’re going to probably represent much less disease, much less death,” Dr. Gottlieb noted about today’s new COVID diagnoses, “because most of the most vulnerable Americans will have been protected through vaccination. So we need to look at these things differently.”

All of these developments should give confidence to local policymakers as Gov. Steve Sisolak turns over virus control to Southern Nevada officials beginning Saturday. Yes, we must continue with the vaccination push — and, at the same time, recognize that the progress we have made in recent months ensures it is safe to further relax many of the restrictions that Las Vegans have endured for more than 13 months.