Masks are revived when delta variants surge

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Washington — Mask is back. Seventy-five days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared that vaccinated people no longer needed to wear face covers, authorities reversed policy and the rise of delta mutants required a return to masking. Announced to do.

At a news conference, CDC director Rochelle Walensky said, “In high-infection and high-incidence areas, we recommend that fully vaccinated people wear masks in public indoor environments.

New CDC Guidance Published with Warensky’s remarks, masking should remain effective until “high vaccination rates and low community transmission”. High infection rates are defined by the CDC as over 100 cases per 100,000 people. 50-99 out of 100,000 cases are defined as “substantial” infections. (Community infection can also be calculated by the percentage of coronavirus diagnostic tests that return a positive result.)

Masking has been politicized since the beginning of the pandemic. This trend continues on Tuesday, as expected. Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, greeting New guidance in two words: “hell”.

The leaders of the elected organizations will face the complex challenge of being able to revert to the precautions omitted a few weeks ago as the country appeared to be moving out of the pandemic.

Last Friday, a poster at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas informed passengers that they needed to wear a mask.  (STAR ​​MAX / IPx via AP)

Poster at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas last Friday. (Star Max / IPx via AP)

Parents are already afraid of the resurgence of distance learning, and school education should be a particularly serious concern. Warrensky, an advocate of face-to-face education since starting his tenure at the CDC, said masking should be universal in schools from kindergarten to high school, regardless of vaccination status. ..

This guidance can help reassure educators who are nervous about returning to the classroom. However, some conservative governors have enacted measures to prevent school districts from demanding masks.

Guidance for unvaccinated people remains the same. Is to wear a mask. As she did in the past, Warrensky put pressure on holdouts to get their shots, especially because they are much more sensitive to coronavirus than fully vaccinated individuals. rice field. She and other public health officials are increasingly describing the current situation as an “unvaccinated pandemic.”

Earlier this month, Warrensky revealed that 99.5 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in June were unvaccinated individuals. Delta variants appear to be much more contagious, but less deadly. “We continue to strongly encourage everyone to be vaccinated,” Warensky said. “Vaccination can prevent serious illness, hospitalization and death, even on Delta.”

As of July 23, 48.9 percent of the American population had been vaccinated, according to the CDC. Most epidemiologists believe it’s not high enough to stop infections in the community, but incentives and spikes in public campaigns encourage Americans who dislike vaccines to change their minds. I couldn’t.

In Brooklyn, New York, shown here on Monday, stores still need masks. Only about 54 percent of New Yorkers are vaccinated.

In Brooklyn, New York, shown here on Monday, stores still need masks. Only about 54 percent of New Yorkers are vaccinated. (Spencer Pratt / Getty Images)

Since early April, when 3 million people were vaccinated daily, the number of people vaccinated has dropped sharply. Currently, the number of people per day is less than 500,000, giving ample opportunity for Delta variants to spread, especially in low-vaccinated states. Last week, three states, Florida, Missouri, and Texas, accounted for 40% of new cases.

Warrensky, people Infected with delta variant It tends to carry and release more viral particles than people infected with other variants. Delta mutants can be transmitted to others without the vaccinated person becoming ill. In low-vaccinated areas, it can pose a significant risk, even if such transmission from vaccinated to unvaccinated people is unlikely to occur at all.

“I’m curious about this new science and unfortunately we need to update our recommendations,” Warrensky said in a briefing on Tuesday. “This weighs heavily on me,” she added later in the briefing, admitting that people were “tired” and “frustrated.”

The new guidance represents a country’s retreat that was on track to return to normal. Its normal condition appears farther than in May, when the mask was removed and the coronavirus appeared to be receding.

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