Print More than a year after federal health officials told Americans to cover their faces when venturing out in public, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday that fully vaccinated people could start taking off their masks indoors. But the new federal guidance announced amid a sharp decline in coronavirus cases and an expansion of vaccine eligibility to everyone 12 and older came with caveats and confusion. And it sent state and local officials, as well as private companies, scrambling to decide whether and when to update their own rules. Here are some questions you might have about what the CDC’s new stance means, and what it doesn’t mean.
New PA Mask Rules: You Still Have To Wear Them In These Stores - Norristown, PA - Several stores say their masking rules remain unchanged after Pennsylvania confirmed changes to its face-covering order.
Masks still required at many central Pa. grocery stores, including Giant, Karns and Weis PennLive.com 15 mins ago Sue Gleiter, pennlive.com
Popular Searches
The new policy states fully vaccinated people do not have to wear masks in most places, including crowded outdoor events. However, the federal agency advised even those who are vaccinated to wear masks in crowded indoor settings like buses, planes, hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters.
The guidance, which unions and industry groups say could put workers’ safety at risk, complicates rules for retailers, who have no way to determine whether employees and shoppers have been fully vaccinated. Masks have been a contentious issue throughout the pandemic.
[It s] big news for us, particularly if anybody s been in Florida in the middle of summer with a mask on, CEO Bob Chapek joked with analysts on an earnings call about two hours after the new recommendations were released. Given the guidance that just came today from the CDC, and earlier guidance that we got from the governor of Florida, we ve already started to increase our capacities, he said.
The CDC now says fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a face mask or stay 6 feet away from others in most settings, whether outdoors or indoors, according to the updated guidance. It s the first time the federal government has encouraged people to stop wearing masks since the agency first called for face coverings more than a year ago. It marks a major turning point in the Covid-19 pandemic in the U.S. and brings the country one step closer to normalcy. Public health experts also said the change is likely to encourage more Americans, especially those still hesitant about receiv