Fully vaccinated people should mask up in high transmission areas, CDC recommends in reversal

Fully vaccinated people should return to wearing a mask out in public if they’re in an area of high transmission, the CDC announced, citing new scientific evidence that vaccinated people infected with the Delta variant can spread the virus just as well as the unvaccinated.

“This new science is worrisome and unfortunately warrants an update to our recommendations,” said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky during a Tuesday briefing.

The highly contagious Delta variant remains the predominant mutant in the U.S., said Walensky, and new data from recent outbreaks has shown that people with breakthrough infections can spread the virus.

Vaccinated people should mask up in public in areas with “high” or “substantial transmission,” the CDC recommended. High transmission is defined as a region with greater than 100 cases per 100,000 people in the past seven days and substantial is defined as 50-99 cases.

Massachusetts currently sits at 49.6 cases per 100,000 people in the past seven days.

The new recommendation is a reversal from previous CDC guidance that said vaccinated people can unmask in nearly all settings.

The latest announcement also backtracks on a July 9 recommendation for schools. The agency had previously said teachers and students did not need to wear a mask inside school buildings come fall.

Now, all staff, students and teachers should wear a mask inside at school, Walensky announced.

“This is not a decision that we at CDC have made lightly. This weighs heavily on me,” Walensky said.

The announcements follow decisions in large U.S. cities to revert to indoor mask mandates amid a spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations as the Delta variant spreads mostly among unvaccinated people. The country is averaging more than 57,000 cases a day and 24,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations.

In Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker hasn’t budged on the state’s masking guidelines and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education also hasn’t changed its recommendations, which currently state all masking and social distancing will be lifted.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2UTVvO0