NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)– An announcement from the Centers for Disease Control moves the Nation a major step closer to pre-pandemic life.
The CDC now says, many Americans no longer need to wear masks.
The historic turning point in the fight against covid comes after the CDC found new results about the vaccines and their effectiveness. So, Americans can ditch the masks in all settings. That means both indoors and outdoors, and even in crowds.
Of course, there are a few exceptions, like on buses, planes, hospitals, prisons, and homeless shelters, masks are still recommended.
The new guidelines clear the way for the reopening of more schools and workplaces. Also offers a light at the end of the tunnel for places like live music venues and movie theaters.
Rochelle Walensky, the director of the CDC says the changes are supported by new information on vaccines.
“More science that has emerged just in the last week. One is the effectiveness of the vaccines in general in real-world populations. One is the effectiveness against variants, which was just published last week, and then, the effectiveness in preventing transmissibility,” said Walensky.
Here’s a look at the CDC’s latest safe activities chart.
This one shows a list of possible outdoor activities. Most are at least somewhat safe for both vaccinated and not vaccinated people.
The big difference on the indoor activity list is the CDC shows all activities as being “safest” for fully vaccinated people, even without masks.
We reached out to Mayor Latoya Cantrell’s office to ask if the new CDC guidelines would affect the city’s mask mandate. A spokesperson responded saying, “The Mayor and the New Orleans Health Department are reviewing the new guidance.”