INDOOR MASK USE NO LONGER NECESSARY ACROSS MOST OF THE U.S., CDC SAYS

Fri 04 March 2022:

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 93% of the population in the US lives in areas where the coronavirus level is so low that people do not need to wear masks indoors.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) relaxed its standards on when Americans should wear masks indoors, stating they can also be dropped in regions with low or medium COVID-19 levels.

COVID hospitalizations, a critical benchmark for the new masking recommendations, continue to fall, according to the most recent data.

The CDC, while announcing its revised guidelines said about 70 per cent of US counties and 72 per cent of the US population resides in communities where face coverings are no longer recommended.

The agency on Thursday said 85.4 per cent of counties are now ranked as low to medium risk and about 92.9 per cent of the population lives in those counties.

However, it is still to be determined whether the Biden administration will extend the mask requirements for travelling on airplanes, trains, buses or for transit hubs.

The current transit order expires on March 18 but can be extended. As per the White House the issue is still being evaluated.

The guidelines announced last week shifted its focus from COVID-19 transmission rates to infection rates, local hospitalisation and hospital capacity.

According to previous recommendations, just 5% of counties were regarded to be in the safe zone and may stop wearing masks indoors, while 95% were assessed to be at risk for greater transmission.

Many federal agencies this week have told government employees that they can now stop wearing masks indoors in federal buildings in Washington, D.C. Area or in some low or medium Covid level areas including Pentagon, Transportation Department, Justice Department, State Department and Federal Aviation.

The White House had previously asked agencies to alter federal employee masking and testing standards by Friday, according to an earlier memo.

According to the guidance, federal agencies in counties with low Covid community levels are not required to check unvaccinated personnel for COVID-19 on a regular basis. This advise applies to around 3.5 million employees.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent