LOS ANGELES (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 today 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 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.
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