US: Fully vaccinated people no longer to wear masks in most public places says CDC

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on May 13 updated its guidance on outdoor mask mandate stressing that fully vaccinated people were no longer needed to wear masks outdoors and could avoid wearing them indoors in most places. Additionally, it also recommended that fully immunized people could also skip social distancing at public places, allowing Americans to engage in close encounters for the first time in months. As per CDC, the relaxation would not only encourage people to get their shots but also mark towards returning normalcy in the country.

We followed the science here: Walensky

Addressing a press conference, CDC director Rochelle Walensky said the new guidance was based on a sharp reduction in cases, expansion of vaccines to younger people and vaccine efficacy against coronavirus variants. Soon after the announcement was made, President Joe Biden also made a rare unmasked appearance at the White House dubbing the update as a significant 'milestone'.

As of May 14, at least 154,624,231 or 46.6  per cent of the US has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines while118,987,308 or 35.8 per cent of them have been fully vaccinated. As per the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the country has received 339,165,445 doses of vaccines out of which266,596,486  million have been administered. Till now, 32,643,851COVID-19 cases have been detected in the country.  

Recently, US asked its citizens to leave India as soon as possible amid an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases that has left hospitals overwhelmed with patients and resources acute and a growing threat from the Indian variant of coronavirus. Issuing the highest-ever travel advisory of Level 4, the US Department of State asked its citizens “not to travel to India or leave the country as soon as it is safe to do so.” There are 14 direct daily flights between India and the US and other services that connect through Europe, the department said.

“Access to medical care is severely limited due to COVID-19 cases in India. US citizens wishing to depart should use available commercial options now. Daily direct flights to the US and flights via Paris and Frankfurt are available," the State Department tweeted.

Image: AP/Representative Image