The CDC No Longer Advises Everyone In Medical Institutions To Wear A Mask

Sep, 2022 - By SMI

Except in cases when the institutions are located in regions with significant COVID-19 transmission, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no longer advise universal masking in healthcare settings.

The FDA updated its infection control guidance for healthcare workers late on Friday, and as part of that update, the changes were quietly made public. It is a significant change from the agency's earlier advice for universal masking.

The CDC's revised guidance states that revisions were made "to represent the elevated amounts of infection- and vaccine-induced immunity along with the effectiveness of available treatments and prevention methods."

Facilities in areas with low transmission levels can now "choose not to mandate" all physicians, patients, and visitors to wear masks, according to the CDC. Transmission differs from the community levels the CDC utilises to direct settings outside of the healthcare industry.

According to the CDC, measurements of the prevalence and spread of SARS-CoV-2 are referred to as community transmission.

According to the CDC, "it is the metric now suggested to guide choice behaviours in healthcare settings to allow for early intervention, before there is stress on the healthcare system, and to better safeguard the persons seeking care in these settings."

Currently, "high" rates of transmission are present throughout over 73% of the US.

While taking into consideration transmission in the community, community levels "put a focus on assessments of the effect of COVID-19 in terms of hospitalizations and healthcare system pressure," according to the CDC.

Only 7% of counties are thought to be high danger, whereas over 62% are seen to be low risk.

A list of exceptions where people could decide to mask is also provided in the revised guideline, as opposed to the old guidance's exclusions when masking was not advised.