Health Officials Consider Mask Mandates As Covid Cases & Hospitalizations Surge

deadline.com:

There’s a growing chorus from public health officials being heard across the country this week, and it consists of one just word: “Masks.”Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer on a Zoom with reporters today recommended, “Everyone two years of age and older should wear a mask in indoor gatherings and indoor settings such as businesses, restaurants and indoors at schools.”Likewise last Friday, a group of health officers from the Bay Area issued a rare joint statement strongly recommending — but not requiring — residents to once again wear face coverings indoors.“If you’ve chosen not to wear a mask in indoor public places recently, now is a good time to start again,” Dr.

George Han, deputy health officer for Santa Clara County told the San Francisco Chronicle.A little further south, the Pacific Grove Unified School District in Monterey, CA on Monday decided to mandate all students and staff wear masks indoors, beginning Tuesday, as infections rise there.

School districts in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Illinois have done the same this week.Top Biden administration officials warned Wednesday that one-third of Americans live in communities the CDC considers at high risk (orange on the map below) and recommends masks be mandated in those areas.“We urge local leaders to encourage use of prevention strategies like masks in public indoor settings and increasing access to testing and treatment,” said Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and PreventionAbout two weeks ago, the CDC issued a new recommendation that masks be worn by all persons two years old up “in indoor areas of public transportation (such as airplanes, trains, etc.) and transportation hubs (such as airports, stations,