Federal health officials are once again calling for tighter rules about wearing masks in public indoor spaces in areas with “substantial or high” rates of COVID-19 transmission, citing the more infectious delta variant.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday afternoon that it is now recommending that all students in K-12 schools wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status. This also includes teachers, staff, and visitors. (Children who are at least 12 years are eligible for Pfizer Inc.
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Across all metrics, the pandemic in the U.S. has worsened in recent weeks, even with about 49% of the population fully vaccinated.
The seven-day average in the U.S. is 40,246 new cases per day, 3,521 hospitalizations per day, and 253 deaths per day, as of July 23, according to the CDC. These are all double-digital percentage increases.
The CDC categorizes community transmission in four categories: low (blue), moderate (yellow), substantial (orange), and high (red). Much of the South is considered a region with high rates of transmission, as are large swaths of Western states like California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, and Arizona.
More than 63% of the U.S. countries are categorized as having “high” or “substantial” rates of transmission.
The CDC in mid-May updated its guidance to tell Americans who have been vaccinated that they no longer need to wear masks or social distance in most settings. Two months later, the public-health agency rolled back rules in K-12 schools, saying vaccinated teachers and students do not need to wear masks.
