Most Americans Don't Currently Need to Wear a Mask Indoors, Under New CDC Guidance
s of today, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no longer advises mask-wearing in public indoor spaces for most Americans.
Using a new method to determine community risk, more than half of U.S. counties—home to about 70% of the nation’s population—do not currently meet the threshold for recommended universal indoor masking, CDC officials said during a press briefing today. “With widespread population immunity, the overall risk of severe disease is now, generally, lower,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during the briefing. The CDC is now focused on preventing severe disease and health care strain, she said, instead of solely stopping new infections. The agency now determines an area’s risk based on its hospitalization rates, health care capacity, and the rate of new cases, instead of just case numbers and test positivity rates.
Universal indoor masking is now recommended only for counties that are deemed high risk based on these metrics. Schools can follow the same guidance as the wider community, CDC officials said. The masking advice does not apply to airplanes, trains, and transit centers, where masking is still required by a national mandate through at least March 18.
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