The CDC issues new masking guidance as U.S. COVID cases drop

The CDC issues new masking guidance as U.S. COVID cases drop

Transcript¹

The CDC's new guidance means most of the U.S. population is considered to be at low or medium risk for COVID-19, and the agency has given the green light to take masks off.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

More faces are emerging from behind masks. The CDC's new guideline means most of the U.S. population, about 63% of U.S. counties, are now considered to be at low or medium risk, so the agency has given the green light to take off masks. The CDC also dropped its recommendation for universal masking in schools, leaving it up to local officials to decide. And some districts have already made those moves.

Here to get at all this, we're joined by NPR's Allison Aubrey. Allison, as COVID cases have continue to drop, many states and cities have already dropped masking requirements. So then what's the significance of the CDC's new guidance?

ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE²: The significance is that the guidance really establishes a new way to think about the risk - new metrics, really. Instead of focusing so much on COVID cases, now the focus is on preventing serious disease. So look, hospital admissions and capacity are now key indicators³ to determine when and where masking is needed. Right now new hospitalizations are way down - I mean, 75% compared to mid-January. Cases continue to fall.

And CDC Director Rochelle Walensky explained the agency's change in thinking when she announced the new recommendations Friday afternoon.

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ROCHELLE WALENSKY: With omicron, we have many, many more cases than we have hospitalizations. And in that backdrop, we also had much more population immunity⁴ by vaccination⁵ boosting and prior infection. And so many, many of our infections did not result in severe disease, did not result in increased hospital capacity. And it was in that context that we made this pivot⁶.

AUBREY: So masks are coming off in many places. But about 37% of U.S. counties, accounting⁷ for about 30% of the population, are still in the high-risk category. So certainly much of the country has turned the corner. But it does depend on where you are.

MARTINEZ: So how can people tell if they're in a low- or high-risk county?

AUBREY: The CDC has a website. You type in your county, state, and your county's risk level will appear with the color. This is based on data from about 6,000 hospitals across the country that are required to report COVID numbers and on data from labs that continue to analyze⁸ PCR tests. If your county is in the green or yellow, that's low to medium risk. There's no longer an indoor mask recommendation in these counties. Orange is high, so masking is still recommended for people in these counties. And no matter where you are in the country, if you're at higher risk of disease, if you're immunocompromised, even if there's no mask mandate⁹, the CDC says talk to your health care provider.

Here's Dr. Walensky again.

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WALENSKY: Anybody is certainly welcome to wear a mask at any time if they feel safer wearing a mask. So we are absolutely endorsing¹⁰ - if you feel more comfortable wearing a mask, feel free to do so. And we should encourage people to have that liberty to be able to do so.

AUBREY: The CDC also says people who test positive and are sick, mask up. And Dr. Walensky says though masking is being relaxed now as trends improve, the guidance makes it very clear that masking recommendations could come back if there's another surge.

MARTINEZ: OK. Now, schools - tell us about what could happen in schools.

AUBREY: Well, per the CDC's new guidance, if you live in a county that's now deemed low or medium risk - so if your county's in this yellow or green category - masking is no longer universally recommended in schools. This is a significant change and somewhat controversial.

Here CDC's Greta Massetti explaining the decision.

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GRETA MASSETTI: Although children can get infected and can get sick with COVID, they're more likely to have asymptomatic or mild infections. And we know that also because children are relatively¹¹ at lower risk from severe illness that schools can be safe places for children. And so for that reason, we're recommending that schools use the same guidance that we are recommending in general community settings.

AUBREY: Which now means that universal masking is only recommended in schools and the 37% of U.S. counties that are still in this high-risk category. Though the CDC says local officials can make their own recommendations.

MARTINEZ: Yeah. And some states haven't waited - have not waited at all to lift the mask requirements.

AUBREY: That's right. On Friday, Maryland ended its statewide mandatory¹² school masking policy, putting the decision into the hands of county officials. New York's governor announced over the weekend mask requirements for schools will be removed March 2, this Wednesday. And it's not just masks. New York City is lifting its vaccine¹³ mandate for indoor dining and for entertainment beginning March 7. Face coverings will now be optional for President Joe Biden's State of the Union address set for Tuesday. So Congress is lifting its mask requirement on the House floor. And later today, officials in California plan to announce a new school mask policy and a timeline.

California still has counties in the high-risk category. I spoke¹⁴ to California's Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly, who's a pediatrician by training. His message is that though mask guidance is changing, what's not changing is the evidence that high-quality masks in settings of high transmission are beneficial.

MARK GHALY: We want to be clear that what we're doing is moving from a requirement to a strong recommendation. We think that there are certain populations of students and staff who should feel safe, protected if they decide to continue to wear a high-quality mask - so continuing to support that message. We want to make sure that those opportunities still exist.

AUBREY: What I hear over and over again, A, from public health officials and infectious disease experts is as we enter this new phase of the pandemic, the virus has thrown so many curveballs in the past. We need to be prepared. So, you know, vaccines¹⁵, medicines and masks remain proven tools to protect us if there is another outbreak or surge.

MARTINEZ: That's NPR's Allison Aubrey. Thanks a lot.

AUBREY: Thank you, A.

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1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

4 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

5 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

6 pivot   

v.在枢轴上转动；装枢轴，枢轴；adj.枢轴的

参考例句：

• She is the central pivot of creation and represents the feminine aspect in all things.她是创造的中心枢轴，表现出万物的女性面貌。
• If a spring is present,the hand wheel will pivot on the spring.如果有弹簧，手轮的枢轴会装在弹簧上。

7 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

8 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

9 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

10 endorsing   

v.赞同( endorse的现在分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• Yet Communist leaders are also publicly endorsing religion in an unprecedented way. 不过，共产党领导层对宗教信仰的公开认可也是以前不曾有过的。 来自互联网
• Connecticut Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman is endorsing Republican Senator John McCain. 康涅狄格州独立派参议员约瑟夫。列波曼将会票选共和议员约翰。麦凯恩。 来自互联网

11 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

12 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

13 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

14 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

15 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。