Most Arizonans should again wear face masks indoors, according to the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
of CDC “community level” recommendationswas updated Thursday, requiring residents in 10 Arizona counties to wear appropriate masks indoors in public, regardless of vaccination status or individual risk, including in K-12 schools and other community settings. says it needs to.
Guidance is updated weekly and ranks counties as low, medium, high or green, yellow, or orange. Arizona counties designated “high” where masks are recommended are Maricopa, Pinal, Apache, Coconino, Gila, La Paz, Mojave, Navajo, Yavapai, and Yuma. Greenlee and Santa Cruz are ‘medium’ and Pima, Graham and Cochise are ‘low’.
This metric is based on county COVID-19 hospital bed occupancy, COVID-19 hospitalizations, and virus case rates in the past week.
Just over a third of US counties, or 35%, were rated high on Thursday, about 40% were rated medium, and 25% were low.
Most people, except where communities are at low levels, or for certain people, including those who are immunocompromised, who are at high risk for severe illness, or who have household or social contacts at high risk for severe illness. The mask is explicitly discouraged in this case. disease.
“We cannot give up”:How Arizona Leaders Are Helping Children Get COVID-19 Vaccines
CDC also recommends “increased precautions in high-risk collective environments” in communities designated as intermediate.
In addition to Arizona, there are other regions with many “high” level counties, such as California, Florida, Oregon, Louisiana, and Montana.
According to the state’s latest weekly update on Wednesday, reported COVID-19 cases in Arizona continue at relatively high levels, with the state’s percentage of positive tests not reported since January. It was the best.
In Arizona, as in other states, two contagious subvariants of the virus, BA.4 and BA.5, are the main causes, with BA.5 predominating the two. It may also contribute to reinfection given its contagiousness and ability to evade antibodies.
On July 1, the CDC placed nine Arizona counties in the “high” category. It was the first time Maricopa, Coconino, and Yavapai counties were rated “high” since the CDC began posting his data in late February.
On July 8, the CDC downgraded all but three Arizona counties from the highest level. Maricopa County had been downgraded to Medium. His three counties, Navajo, Apache and Mojave, have been rated “high” for his third consecutive week.
Please contact the reporter at Stephanie.Innes@gannett.com or at 602-444-8369. follow her on her twitter @stephanieinnes
Please contact the reporter at Alison.Steinbach@arizonarepublic.com Or at 602-444-4282. Follow her on her Twitter @.alsteinbach.
Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.
