Sen. Ron Johnson accuses CDC of making ‘false statement’ on mask mandate study, demands information

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FIRST ON FOX: Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is requesting that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) respond to the “several purported flaws” uncovered in a study on using masks to defend against COVID-19.

The senator’s request comes after The Atlantic published an article that highlighted potential errors in the CDC’s Arizona findings from a September 2021 study.

Johnson sent a letter to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky Wednesday, exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital, demanding information related to the study’s “alleged limitations” used to conclude that mask mandates in schools help prevent COVID-19 infections.

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The study found that people are three times more likely to contract the virus when not wearing a mask; however, potential inaccuracies in the research have been found.

The Atlantic’s study included various findings, such as alleged biases, and questioned if the transmissions of COVID-19 had actually occurred at school. The senator, in his letter, is requesting full transparency of the research and methodology from the study and feels that “the lack of transparency from the CDC on pandemic policy throughout the past two years has been appalling.”

The CDC continues to publicly support their findings of the Arizona study, despite reportedly having acknowledged the “limitations” in a closed-door briefing.

“The fact that [Walensky] and the CDC appear to be willing to acknowledge potential flaws and limitations of this and other studies in nonpublic forums raises serious questions about CDC’s commitment to transparency,” wrote Johnson in the letter.

Johnson is requiring the CDC to respond to many specific questions he outlined in the letter by March 15.

The senator is calling into question the credibility of the CDC, which the nation has put trust in throughout the pandemic for facts about COVID-19 and mask mandate guidelines.

The CDC did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Johnson’s letter.

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The CDC has announced new mask guidelines that use a metric to track hospitalizations and high-risk areas around the country. Based on this data, residents are either required to wear a mask or not, depending on their city’s risk level.

President Biden referred to these new guidelines during his first State of the Union speech Tuesday evening saying, “most Americans in most of the country can now be mask-free.”