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As the delta variant leads to an increase in COVID-19 cases in the United States, some local health departments are taking the initiative to re-impose indoor mask warrants for all residents – despite CDC guidance that the Most fully vaccinated Americans can go without a mask.
The CDC said in May that fully vaccinated Americans could do without masks – but that was before the delta variant drastically changed the landscape of the pandemic.
Vaccines still work, experts say. But the highly transmissible delta variant means cases are on the rise again – especially among half of all Americans who are not yet fully vaccinated. In recent weeks, coronavirus cases and hospitalizations among unvaccinated people in almost all states have increased, just as some states were in the process of declaring the end of their states of emergency following the pandemic.
ABC News has identified at least a dozen states that have seen a reversal of their mask guidelines at the local level – cities, counties and school districts – in the past two weeks. Some of these efforts have received strong support from the state government, while others are challenged by state officials.
In some states, local governments have imposed new mask warrants, while in other states, local authorities have instead announced new recommendations or reiterated existing recommendations.
In California, while the new mask warrant was only issued in Los Angeles County, at least ten more counties across the state now strongly recommend indoor masks for all residents – including those who are fully vaccinated. In Massachusetts, several counties and municipalities have reinstated mask warrants.
In the cities of Las Vegas and New Orleans, health authorities have decided to put in place masks for county employees, regardless of their vaccination status. Savannah became the first major city in Georgia to reinstate an indoor mask policy for all residents in response to a spike in coronavirus cases in surrounding counties.
“It is clear to us that we are on a very dangerous trend,” Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said on Monday. “And to try and slow this trend down, the Mask Mandate was the least invasive and destructive way to do it.
In some states, efforts to reinstate mask requirements were immediately postponed.
In Missouri, as the case rate has increased and the vaccination rate remains low, St. Louis city and county officials announced last week that they would require masks to be worn in public places domestic and transit – but state attorney general Eric Schmitt has said he will take legal action to prevent the city and county from bringing back such a warrant.
In Florida, where hospitalizations in some areas are increasing at the fastest rate since the start of the pandemic, Palm Beach officials this week opposed Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ban on mask warrants by imposing a warrant of indoor mask for residents regardless of vaccination status.
And Miami Dade and Orange counties, while refraining from imposing a warrant, have brought back recommendations for wearing masks in crowded areas, prompting DeSantis to warn Orange County that it “cannot not impose civil or criminal penalties on citizens who choose not to wear masks. “
Similar laws prohibiting local governments from imposing mask orders have been passed in Iowa, Montana, Arizona and Arkansas, while the governors of Texas, Tennessee and South Carolina have signed decrees prohibiting local governments from imposing mask warrants.
In Montana, the Missoula County health official blamed the state ban for the county’s inability to bring back a mask warrant despite an increase in cases.
And in Texas, many lawmakers and health officials are urging Gov. Greg Abbott to reverse his school ban and allow the reinstatement of mask warrants in schools.
“We now know that even people who have been vaccinated can catch and spread the coronavirus,” Texas lawmakers wrote in a letter to Abbott on Friday. “In these circumstances, we must continue to fight this virus with all the tools at our disposal. “
Some local school districts in Atlanta, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois have announced various mask mandates for students and staff, regardless of immunization status, for the fall semester.
Officials in other states, including Pennsylvania, Kansas and New York, are focusing on increasing the number of vaccinations instead of reconsidering their mask guidelines.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Monday that all city staff will be mandated to either get vaccinated or get tested once a week in response to the increase in coronavirus cases. in the state.
As authorities prepare to reinstate mask recommendations at the local level, Dr Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Biden, told CNN on Sunday that the review of the national mask guidelines for those vaccinated was “in the study”.
“The CDC is okay with that ability and that discretion to say, you know, you’re in a situation where we have a lot of infection dynamics,” Fauci said of local mask warrants. “Even if you are vaccinated, you must wear a mask. This is a local decision that is not inconsistent with the CDC’s global recommendations which give residents a lot of discretion.”
ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik, Alexis Carrington, Samuel Tiffany and Jianna Cousin contributed to this report.
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