San Diego County’s ‘high transmission rate’ leads to new CDC mask guidance – fox5sandiego.com

SAN DIEGO (CNS) – After weeks of insisting fully vaccinated people could shed face coverings in most situations, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reversed course Tuesday and recommended mask-wearing indoors for everyone, regardless of vaccination status, in areas experiencing “high” or “substantial” COVID-19 transmission.

Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties are all currently listed by the CDC as having “high” transmission rates.

Los Angeles County implemented a mask-wearing mandate in indoor public settings for everyone earlier this month, citing spiking cases attributed to spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19. It was not immediately clear if other local counties will impose similar mandates now that the CDC is recommending indoor mask-wearing for all.

CDC reverses course on indoor masks in some parts of the country

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky announced the change Tuesday, saying the Delta variant “behaves uniquely different from past strains of the virus that cause COVID-19.”

She called rapid spread of the COVID variant “worrisome,” and said its behavior “warrants an update to our recommendations.”

Mask-wearing has remained a requirement indoors across California for unvaccinated people. However, enforcement of the requirement was based largely on the honor system, making it uncertain if unvaccinated residents were abiding by the rule.

FOX 5 is learning more about this developing story and will provide updates as more information comes in.

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