After the CDC’s mask guideline map for California was challenged, the revision issued Thursday was substantially different, with the state’s most populous counties designated “low risk.”
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had issued maps showing each U.S. county’s “community risk level,” which the agency uses in advising where masks should be worn inside.
A few days later, the news organization CalMatters reported that the CDC data appeared “to be outdated by more than a month,” and that many of the California counties had been improperly designated high risk.
The CDC’s new map has reclassified many counties, including moving Los Angeles and San Diego from high risk to low risk. The number of counties called high risk dropped from 30 to 11, and those are all rural and less populated.
In the Bay Area, Santa Clara County moved from medium to low risk; Alameda was downgraded from low to medium. Napa and Solano both exited the high-risk category.
The CDC guidelines don’t have much practical effect, as most California counties are instead following the state guidelines, which now deem mask-wearing optional in most public places.
Under the CDC system, counties are rated low (green), medium (yellow) or high (orange) risk, based on rates of new cases and hospitalizations for COVID-19 and on hospital capacity.
- High: Masks recommended for everyone in indoor public places.
- Medium: Masks recommended for those at high risk for the disease or with weakened immunity.
- Low: Masks optional.
Source: www.mercurynews.com