CDC to recommend people with vaccines wear masks indoors as number of cases rises: Latest COVID-19 updates

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should recommend that fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors in areas with high transmission as COVID-19 cases continue to rise and vaccination rates decline, media say .

The change in directive comes days after Dr Anthony Fauci, chief COVID-19 medical adviser to President Joe Biden, said the agency was reviewing mask recommendations for fully vaccinated Americans.

“We are going in the wrong direction,” he told CNN on Sunday, referring to the recent sharp rise in infections.

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The CDC is expected to announce the details of the revised guidelines at a press conference at 3 p.m. ET.

NBC News, citing unnamed officials with knowledge of the move, reported that it came after new data suggests vaccinated individuals may have higher levels of the virus and infect others amid the spate of cases caused by the delta variant of the coronavirus.

The guidelines will also recommend that everyone wear a mask in K-12 schools, regardless of immunization status, CNN reported, citing an anonymous source. The best infectious disease physicians are calling for such a measure.

The delta variant has ravaged unvaccinated communities in the United States, accounting for nearly all recent hospitalizations and deaths. Public health officials have said vaccines largely protect most people vaccinated against serious illness and death, but groundbreaking cases are possible.

Meanwhile, New York City and the state of California this week announced plans to impose COVID-19 vaccines on many of their employees or undergo weekly testing.

Also in the news:

►The United States is again reporting more than 50,000 new cases per day on a seven-day moving average. The country last hit that mark on April 30, when cases declined as vaccines gripped the pandemic.

►Tokyo reported its highest number of new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday at 2,848, surpassing the previous record of 2,520 cases on January 7. Tokyo is under its fourth state of emergency, which is set to continue through the Olympics until just before the Paralympics begin in late August.

© Mary Altaffer, AP
FILE – A health worker inoculates Evelyn Pereira, right, of Brooklyn, with the first dose of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine as her daughter Soile Reyes, 12, watches on Thursday, July 22, 2021, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The number of Americans receiving a COVID-19 vaccine has increased in recent days as cases of the virus rise again and authorities issue severe warnings about the consequences of staying. (AP Photo / Mary Altaffer, file)

►At least 70% of adults in the European Union have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, keeping the bloc of 27 countries on track to achieve full immunization in 70% of adults by the end of summer, the European Commission said on Tuesday. Around 57% of adults in the EU are currently fully vaccinated.

►The Mayo Clinic, based in Rochester, Minnesota, requires all of its employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by September 17, she said Monday. The Department of Veterans Affairs also announced Monday that it will require its healthcare professionals to be vaccinated over the next two months, as coronavirus infections more than doubled in the past month at its medical facilities.

The numbers of the day: The United States has recorded more than 34.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 611,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Global totals: Almost 195 million cases and 4.17 million deaths. More than 163.1 million Americans – 49.1% of the population – have been fully immunized, according to the CDC.

What we read: The CDC says masks for the vaccinated are optional. As COVID cases increase, some are feeling differently.

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Tennessee pastor: wear a mask, get kicked out

A Tennessee church pastor takes a decidedly provocative and partisan approach to masks worn to protect against transmission of coronaviruses.

Pastor Greg Locke told members of the Global Vision Bible Church in Mount Julie, Tennessee, that he would kick out those who wore masks to church. With the delta variant spreading across the country, the CDC is expected to announce new guidelines on Tuesday encouraging even vaccinated people to wear a mask indoors when in public in high transmission areas.

“If they get through the second round and you start showing up (with) all of this masks and all this nonsense, I’ll ask you to leave,” Locke said during a Sunday service. “I’ll ask you to leave. I don’t play these Democratic games in this church.

– Gabriela Miranda

Missouri Attorney General Says St. Louis Mask Mandate

The Missouri attorney general has filed a lawsuit to end a mask warrant that went into effect Monday in the St. Louis area amid an increase in COVD-19 cases that plague a growing number of state hospitals.

The lawsuit brought by Attorney General Eric Schmitt argues that the warrants are “arbitrary and capricious because they require vaccinated people to wear masks, despite CDC guidelines that this is not necessary.” He also questions the requirement for children to wear masks at school, noting that they are less likely to get seriously ill.

The lawsuit came ahead of Tuesday’s announcement of revised CDC guidelines for indoor masking.

Rising infections in the United States are prompting other communities to demand a mask, including Los Angeles County and Savannah, Georgia.

End of moratoriums on state evictions likely led to thousands of COVID deaths, study finds

The lifting of moratoriums on evictions in various states and municipalities has likely resulted in hundreds of thousands of additional COVID cases and deaths, according to a study released Monday.

The study, published by researchers at UCLA, compared cases of COVID in 43 states – some of which have maintained moratoriums on evictions and others that lifted them in the spring or summer of 2020. States that lifted moratoriums have seen on average twice as many COVID cases and five times as many deaths and the end of eviction protections resulted in 433,000 COVID-19 cases and 10,000 more deaths by September 2020 , concluded the study.

The federal moratorium on evictions, preventing late renters from being removed from housing for public health reasons amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, will end this Saturday.

Report: Pfizer and Moderna Expand Trial Age Range to 5 Years

Pfizer and Moderna are expanding their vaccine trials for children aged 5 to 11, according to a new report.

The New York Times reported that the decision came from pressure from the Food and Drug Administration to investigate rare side effects, including heart inflammation, that have occurred in vaccinated people under the age of 30. The FDA has asked the two companies to include an additional 3,000 children between the ages of 5 and 11 in the group, the Times reported.

Regulators will need to balance the potential side effects of vaccines against the risk of COVID-19. Members of a CDC advisory committee believe that the protection offered by the vaccine to people over 12 years of age outweighs the risk of side effects.

US intends to maintain restrictions on travel from UK and other European countries

The United States does not intend to lift travel restrictions at this point given the rise of the delta variant, according to the White House.

The decision means the country’s current travel restrictions – which bar people from the European Schengen area, the UK and other countries – will remain in place.

“Considering where we are today … with the Delta variant, we will maintain existing travel restrictions at this point for several reasons,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement. press conference Monday. and all over the world. Driven by the delta variant, cases are increasing here in us, especially in those who are not vaccinated, and appear likely to continue in the weeks to come. ” Read more here.

– Bailey Schulz

Vanderbilt Medical Center demands COVID-19 vaccines for leadership

Vanderbilt University Medical Center will require employees in managerial positions to receive the coronavirus vaccine.

Employees were alerted to the warrant via an employee newsletter on July 15, VUMC spokesman John Howser confirmed in an email to The Tennessean.

All VUMC leaders are required to receive the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine or provide a medical or religious exemption by August 15. They must be fully vaccinated or have an approved exemption by September 15.

“The deadline for requiring all VUMC employees to be vaccinated or to have an approved exemption is under review and will be communicated at a later date,” Howser said.

The university requires that all students, faculty, staff and postdoctoral fellows it employs be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 for the next school year.

– Rachel Wegner, Nashville Tennessee

Contribute: The Associated Press.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: CDC will recommend that vaccinated people wear masks indoors as the number of cases increases: Latest COVID-19 updates