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CDC Changes Mind on Indoor Masking Guidance

In an apparent change of heart, the CDC will now recommend all teachers and students wear masks in school, and that people living in COVID-19 hotspots, or areas of the country with large outbreaks, wear masks indoors, according to reports from CNN on Tuesday.

The agency will update its masking guidelines later this afternoon, according to sources familiar with the announcement, and CDC is expected to recommend that everyone in K-12 schools wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status, an administration health official told CNN.

In addition, the agency is expecting to recommend that masks be worn indoors in “areas with high or substantial” COVID-19 transmission, which constitutes over half the country. As of now, 46% of U.S. counties have “high transmission” and 17% have “substantial transmission,” according to CNN.

This will represent the agency’s third change in indoor mask guidance in the last 3 months. After dropping most mask recommendations for fully vaccinated people in May, the agency then said earlier this month that vaccinated teachers and students did not need to wear a mask indoors, though CDC still recommended indoor masking for students ages 2 and older who are not fully vaccinated.

CNN speculated that this change in guidance is likely due to the more transmissible Delta variant, as well as evidence suggesting that viral loads found in vaccinated people are “similar” to those in unvaccinated people, meaning that fully vaccinated people may be able to spread the virus, as well.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, is expected to announce the updated guidance in a briefing later today.

  • Molly Walker is deputy managing editor and covers infectious diseases for MedPage Today. She is a 2020 J2 Achievement Award winner for her COVID-19 coverage. Follow

Source: MedicalNewsToday.com