Scientists urge local mask mandates as Delta sweeps the U.S.
Despite the predictions of an early fall surge, infections from the Delta variant have soared throughout the country and spread faster than health experts anticipated. In the past few weeks, every state except Vermont has seen a sudden steep climb in cases.
In response to the surge, Los Angeles County has led the way in reinstating a mask requirement for indoor spaces, even for vaccinated people, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that unvaccinated students—which includes all those under the age of 12 — wear a mask in school.
On the state level, the California Department of Public Health has not changed its current guidance, which doesn’t require masks for vaccinated people, and a representative did not indicate whether an update was likely. So for now it’s unclear how many communities may follow L.A.’s example, even as local surges appear around the country.
“We’re seeing it pretty much hit everywhere all at once, which was a bit unexpected,” says Tara Smith, a professor of epidemiology at Kent State University in Ohio. She expected cases to emerge in the South, where people spend more time in air conditioning during the hot months, before moving northward.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/scientists-urge-local-mask-mandates-as-delta-sweeps-the-us
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