Covid-19 cases rise in US hotspots: Live updates - CNN

Pedestrians wearing face masks pass along a street in Manhattan, New York on June 3. Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images

Health experts have varying stances on this.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not changed its mask guidance since the highly contagious Delta variant was found in all 50 states and Washington, DC.

“If you are fully vaccinated, you can resume activities that you did prior to the pandemic,” the CDC says. “You can resume activities without wearing a mask or staying 6 feet apart” – except in places where masks are required, such as on public transportation or in some workplaces.

For those ages two and up who aren’t fully vaccinated, “you should wear a mask in indoor public places,” the CDC says. Masks are also a good idea for unvaccinated people in crowded outdoor settings or in close contact with other people who aren’t fully vaccinated — especially in areas where coronavirus is rapidly spreading.

States with below-average vaccination rates have, on average, almost triple the rate of new Covid-19 cases compared to states with above-average vaccination rates, according to recent data from Johns Hopkins University.

In places of high Covid-19 spread, people who are fully vaccinated should still take precautions, such as wearing masks, a World Health Organization official said.

“People need to continue to use masks consistently, being in ventilated spaces, hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette – everything … even if you are vaccinated, when you have community transmission ongoing,” WHO Assistant Director-General Dr. Mariangela Simao said June 25.

And because the vaccines are highly effective but not perfect, some health experts said they would keep wearing masks in certain places despite being fully vaccinated.

“If you’re in a low-infection, high-vaccination area, you don’t need to be wearing a mask indoors if you’re fully vaccinated,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

But the Delta variant is surging in parts of the US, including southwest Missouri — where Covid-19 patients are filling up hospital beds and getting transferred to other hospitals.

“If I were in southwest Missouri right now, I’m fully vaccinated, but I would be wearing a mask indoors,” Jha said July 5.

Remember: Vaccines are designed to prevent you getting seriously sick and hospitalized with coronavirus but they will not stop you catching and transmitting the disease.

Read more answers to your Covid-19 questions here.

Adblock test (Why?)