These 11 counties in New York state should return to masks indoors, CDC says - syracuse.com

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Eleven counties in New York state should now return to wearing masks indoors, according to new guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC said Tuesday that people should return to wearing masks indoors in areas with “substantial” (orange areas on map above) and “high” (red) transmission of Covid-19. That includes places with at least 50 new cases per 100,000 people in the past week, or nearly two-third of U.S. counties.

That means residents in two counties in Upstate New York — Greene County and Warren County — should now be wearing masks even if they’re vaccinated, according to the latest data available Thursday. Greene County has seen a 5.45% positivity rate over the past seven days, while Warren County has jumped to 1.87% from 0.45% a month ago.

Less than 50% of residents in Greene County, located in the Catskills region, are fully vaccinated. Warren County, located north of Saratoga Springs and Albany, has vaccinated about 61% of its residents.

The CDC says nine counties downstate should also be wearing masks indoors, including in New York City and Long Island. Richmond County is currently seeing “high” transmission, while all the others are seeing “substantial” spread of the coronavirus.

As of Thursday, the list of New York state counties where vaccinated people should resume wearing masks indoors due to “substantial” or “high” transmission of Covid-19:

Bronx County
Brooklyn County
Greene County
Kings County
Nassau County
New York County
Orange County
Queens County
Richmond County
Suffolk County
Warren County

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has not issued any new Covid rules, but said Tuesday that New York state is reviewing the CDC’s new recommendations closely in consultation with federal and state health experts.

“New Yorkers beat back Covid before — going from the highest positivity rate on the globe to one of the lowest — by staying smart, following the science, and having each other’s backs, and that’s exactly what we’ll keep doing in this next phase of the pandemic,” Cuomo said.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the new CDC recommendation is largely due to the more transmissible Delta variant, which accounted for 83% of U.S. Covid cases last week. In New York, 72% of recent Covid cases are from the Delta variant.

CNN notes that when the CDC previously updated its guidance in May to tell vaccinated people to unmask, the Delta variant only represented 1% of infections.

Most new infections in the U.S. continue to be among unvaccinated people. So-called “breakthrough” infections, which generally cause milder illness, can occur in vaccinated people.

Walensky said new unpublished data that emerged in recent days shows vaccinated people infected with the Delta variant can have as much virus as those who are unvaccinated. Though rare, vaccinated people still have the potential to spread Covid and get sick themselves from breakthrough infections.

“This new science is worrisome and unfortunately warrants an update to our recommendations,” Walensky told media on Tuesday. “It is concerning enough that we feel like we have to act.”

The CDC also recommended face coverings indoors for teachers, staff, students and visitors in all schools nationwide, regardless of vaccination status. Children under 12 are still ineligible to get vaccinated, and a large number of kids under 18 are still unvaccinated.

The CDC’s recommendation for unvaccinated people remains the same nationwide: Continue wearing a mask until you get the vaccine. And masks are still recommended for all people in crowded indoor settings, such as buses, planes, hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters.

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