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What does new CDC mask guidance mean for Hudson Valley residents?

It comes as New York state positivity rate climbs back up to 2.6%.

News 12 Staff

Jul 27, 2021, 9:20 PM

Updated 1,232 days ago

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued updated mask guidance Tuesday, recommending that fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors in areas with "substantial" and "high" transmission of COVID-19.
It is also recommending that everyone in K-12 schools wear a mask, regardless of their vaccination status.
It comes as New York state positivity rate climbs back up to 2.6%.
CDC officials say they are worried about the highly contagious delta variant, which they say is behaving differently than past variants.
"Unlike the alpha variant we had back in May, the delta is different, you can transmit the virus," says Rochelle P. Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It's up to the state to decide whether to issue a mask mandate, but in the Hudson Valley, there isn't that level of transmission that would fall under the updated CDC recommendation at this time.
The Mid-Hudson region's seven-day average of positive test results does show an uptick in cases. But according to the CDC's website, counties in the region do not fall into the high or substantial rates of transmission of COVID-19 spread, although the Bronx currently does.
Westchester County officials say they are closely monitoring cases.
"We've had a rise in infections in the past four weeks. But by now, three to four weeks into this we have not seen no rise in hospitalizations. And we've actually seen a near flat rate of hospitalizations," says Westchester County Executive George Latimer.
Latimer says the county is already looking into imposing capacity restrictions, requirements for masks and social distancing at county owned properties like beaches, parks and playland.
He says they expect to publicly announce a decision by Wednesday.