Public health officials are still not offering specific benchmarks that would trigger the easing of recommendations related to COVID-19. At a White House COVID update on Feb. 9, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said there will “come a time when we move from a phase of crisis to a point where COVID-19 is not disrupting our daily lives.” But when asked what the benchmark for lifting the agency’s universal indoor masking guidance is, Walensky responded without offering any specifics. “We’re, of course, taking a close look at this in real-time, and we’re evaluating rates of transmission as well as rates of severe outcomes as we look at updating and reviewing our guidance,” she said. This comes as many of the U.S. states that have kept restrictions in place the longest are now lifting them. The Democrat-run states of California, Delaware, Connecticut, and New York have …