Where revised CDC COVID-19 mask rules say they’re needed now
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dramatically overhauled its guidance Friday for when people should wear face masks to avoid COVID-19 infection, suggesting they are no longer needed across most of the country where they had been recommended because of high case rates.
The shift comes as several states have begun rolling back their mask requirements as a winter case surge driven by the highly contagious omicron variant fades. California last week loosened its statewide indoor mask requirement for vaccinated people and is expected Monday to announce changes for schools, where California still requires everyone to wear face masks indoors.
The old CDC rules defined substantial transmission as 50 or more new cases per 100,000 people or 8% or more positive tests for the virus, and high transmission as 100 or more cases per 100,000 people or 10% or more positive tests in the past seven days. Under those metrics, every U.S. state except Washington was at the substantial or high level Friday — California’s statewide case rate was 179.4.
Under those new metrics, the CDC said that as of Friday, 23% of U.S. counties are at the low risk level, 39.6% at medium risk and 37.3% at high risk. Only 28% of the U.S. population now lives in a high-risk area. The new risk levels can be checked on theIn California, high risk counties are concentrated in the northern third of the state, the Central Valley and along the southern border, with much of the Bay Area in the low level.