The CDC changes the guidelines as often as necessary while analyzing the progress of the Covid-19 pandemic in the U.S. Due to the dominant and highly contagious Delta strain; the daily new infection cases surged in almost all states. As a result. The new CDC guideline changed its previous recommendation. The current recommendations are that even fully vaccinated people need to wear masks indoors in areas where there are communal outbreaks.
CDC: everyone should wear masks indoors
The guideline states that masks should be worn indoors, even for fully vaccinated people, if they live in places with high Covid-19 transmission rates. To make sure everyone keeps track of their counties’ situations, the CDC recommends checking official news. Currently, this would apply for Southern California, in counties such as Orange, Riverside, San Diego and Los Angeles. These counties are now listed under high transmission rates.
Transmission categories according to the CDC
To understand the need for wearing masks indoors, even if people are fully vaccinated, it is necessary to see the current transmission category of our county. For example, in the counties listed with high transmission rates, everyone should wear masks in public indoor places. For counties listed under the category: substantial transmission, such as San Bernardino, Kern, Ventura, Santa Barbara and Imperial, fully vaccinated people do not have to wear masks indoors, although the situation might change soon. The only county listed with moderated transmission rates in San Luis Obispo, where people can decide if they want or not to wear masks indoors.
Some counties already implemented new masks mandates
Even before the CDC published the new guideline, Los Angeles already made the wearing of masks indoors mandatory for everyone, included fully vaccinated people. This means that the surge in daily infections has made the administration of the county act.