CDC may change figures used for COVID-19 restrictions, including masks, as early as Friday

ATLANTA – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may soon change the indicators used to determine the recommended local restrictions on COVID-19, including masks, according to a scientist involved in the process.

The announcement is expected on Friday. According to experts, the “level of disease in society” will be determined not only by cases but by severe cases that lead to hospitalization and death.

The CDC said it is changing its recommendations because many people across the country are vaccinated, and the dominant variant of omicron is manifested with relatively mild symptoms in most vaccinated people.

According to the current CDC transmission map, 97% of U.S. counties are on high or significant transmission. However, the new recommendations are likely to reduce this figure.

Forty-nine of the 50 states have already announced plans to ease restrictions on masks, and some states have even said they are beginning to view the virus as “endemic.”

Despite the fact that the incidence of pediatric diseases has been declining for almost a month, the American Academy of Pediatrics warns that the incidence in children is still very high – just below the peak level of summer 2021. More than 27.1 million children over the age of 5 are still not vaccinated.