Dr Rochelle Walensky (pictured) announced Friday that the CDC would change its calculations of transmission levels in each U.S. county to now include – and value – hospitalization rates and hospital capacity
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will lift mask recommendations for 70 percent of American counties, the agency announced Friday afternoon.
The agency has revised the calculations that determine whether an area is of ‘high’, ‘medium’ and ‘low’ transmission. Previously, only infection rate was considered, while now hospitalization rate and hospital capacity will be the most valued metrics.
Under the currently installed metrics, only five percent of U.S. counties are not under a mask recommendation by federal regulators.
Because the main goal of pandemic mandates is to avoid the overwhelming of health care systems, gauging hospital capacity and rates of acute Covid are the most important, CDC officials explained.
Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the agency, said that the move allows Americans to feel safe in dropping masks and other restrictions for now, when Covid is not as much of a threat as it was in the past.
It also leaves the door open for officials to bring back masks and other restrictions in the future in times where the pandemic situation becomes more dire, without overreacting to an uptick in mild cases.
Under the previous calculations (figure from 9am on Friday) less than 5% of American counties would not be under a mask recommendation from the CDC
‘Now as the virus continues to circulate in our community, who must focus our metrics beyond just cases in the community, and direct our efforts toward protecting people at high risk for severe illness, and preventing COVID-19 from overwhelming our hospitals and our health care system,’ Dr Walensky explained during a news briefing Friday.
Walensky gave the 70 percent figure during the briefing, though the CDC’s official page has not yet updated with exact figures, or which counties are a part of that 70 percent.
The change comes as Covid cases, deaths and hospitalizations around the country crater. Omicron is also the most mild yet most infectious variant yet, meaning that high case figures during this surge are not as dangerous as they were during previous ones.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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