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Vaccinated people in the United States can take to the streets without masks in many settings, the Biden administration said, in a significant step to relax social distancing requirements as new cases decrease and vaccinations increase.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced its updated guidelines on face coverage on Tuesday, under pressure from some public health experts to do more to get people vaccinated.
Rochelle Walensky, director of CDC, said Tuesday that “usually for vaccinated people, outdoor activities. . . they are safe ”.
Those who have received everything they need Covid-19 punctures he can attend small outdoor meetings or have dinner outdoors with people from other households “safely, without masking,” he said.
“Starting today, a gathering of a group of friends at a park is going to have a picnic; as long as you’re vaccinated and outdoors, you can do it without a mask,” Joe Biden said Tuesday. , President of the United States. .
“So for those who haven’t received the vaccine yet, especially if you’re younger or think you don’t need it, that’s another big reason to get vaccinated,” he added.
29%
The part of the American population vaccinated against Covid-19
Coronavirus infections in the U.S. continue to drop to levels seen six months ago. According to the CDC, the country has averaged about 54,400 infections a day over the past week, below the maximum rate of nearly 250,000 reached in early January during the worst wave of the pandemic. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, about 573,000 deaths have been reported from Covid-19 in the United States.
CDC data Monday showed that so far 231 million bites of Covid-19 vaccine have been distributed to Americans, equal to 42.5% of the total population that has received at least one dose. Almost 29% of the country is completely vaccinated.
But the pace of vaccinations has slowed in the past two weeks, from about 3.4 million doses a day to 2.7 million.
Many public health experts have urged the Biden administration to do more to encourage vaccination, especially in younger people who are at lower risk for the disease. This includes relaxing restrictions for people who have been completely vaccinated.
The CDC had previously recommended that people wear masks whenever they were indoors or unable to maintain a six-foot distance from another individual. According to the new guide, masks will continue to be recommended in crowded outdoor environments, such as sports stadiums, where physical distancing may be more difficult to achieve and some people may not be vaccinated.
Walensky also said it was safe for fully vaccinated people to “go back to indoor activities,” such as attending religious services, eating inside restaurants and bars, and participating in exercise classes, though they are still urged to wear masks.
Earlier this month, the CDC director described the feeling of “imminent destruction” as a case rate in all of the United States and some states, including Michigan, began to rise again. On Tuesday, however, he said he was more comfortable with the current situation as new infections stabilized and he could see “more vaccines getting into people’s arms.”
The guide would likely remain in effect “until widespread vaccination is achieved,” Walensky said. One person is completely vaccinated against Covid-19 two weeks after receiving their last shot, either by two regimens or by a single dose.
Some states have already begun to retreat mask mandates. Greg Abbott, governor of Texas, was one of the first to take action in early March, while Connecticut is expected to lift its outer mask requirement in early May. Bill de Blasio, mayor of New York City, has asked residents to keep their face covers until at least June, but has hinted that it may be less strict during the summer.
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