![]() ![]() Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, says the new risk levels give people a way to think about the pandemic as we go forward. It makes sense for the CDC to put in place shared metrics for understanding risk, says Khan, "and then locally to make decisions to relax mask guidelines based on what the local conditions are: how well people are vaccinated, how many people are going to hospitals, what sort of absenteeism levels you have. Khan says it's now up to communities and individuals to determine what actions to take to protect themselves and those around them. Ali Khan, a former CDC official and now a dean at the University of Nebraska: "There are free vaccines, free masks, free tests and free antivirals." "I think we're moving to a pragmatic strategy, one that recognizes that those who want to protect themselves have every tool available," says Dr. Many public health experts say the shift in guidance makes sense in the context of declining case rates and the widespread availability of COVID-19 vaccines. The agency's new guidelines for assessing community risk, released Friday, weigh hospitalizations for COVID-19 and the proportion of beds occupied by COVID-19 patients in local hospitals more heavily than rates of new infections alone. And regardless of local conditions, they should mask if they have COVID-19 symptoms or a positive test or have been exposed to someone with COVID-19.Īs part of the change, the CDC is dropping its recommendation for universal school masking and instead will recommend masking only in communities at a high level of risk. ![]() Health officials emphasized that people should still wear face coverings if they wish or if they are personally at high risk. But, she added, new risk guidelines that the agency is implementing will help people know when to reach for masks again if conditions warrant it. "We want to give people a break from things like mask-wearing," said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky at a news briefing Friday. The move to ease up on masking, federal officials say, reflects current conditions at this phase of the coronavirus pandemic, including widespread immunity through vaccination and prior infection as well as better access to testing and treatments. ![]()
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