​CDC Updates COVID Mask Guidelines: What It Means In Georgia

GEORGIA — The Biden administration dramatically loosened federal COVID-19 mask guidance Friday as infection rates return to pre-omicron variant levels in Georgia and across the nation.

The bottom line of the expected changes: About 70 percent of Americans will be able to shed their masks while indoors.

In Georgia, many school districts that previously required students to wear masks in class have relaxed those mandates. The State Department of Public Health recorded only 2,405 positive cases on Thursday versus 16,497 just over a month ago, a drop of more than 85 percent.

The new framework categorizes counties by “low,” “medium” or “high” risk. The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention isn’t recommending mask-wearing in the first two categories, except among people who have underlying health conditions that put them at high risk for COVID-19.

In schools, masking is only recommended in counties with a high risk of infection.

The CDC previously recommended that people wear masks in areas with substantial or high transmission — roughly 95 percent of U.S. counties, according to the latest data. The new guidance comes as the virus becomes endemic and the Biden administration focuses on preventing serious illness and death from COVID-19 rather than all instances of infection.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky tweeted Thursday that the agency is shifting its focus to concentrate on preventing the spread of COVID-19 to minimize the strain on the health care system.

Omicron infection rates in Georgia represent between 5 and 7.9 percent of the nearly 150,000 tests performed in the last seven days, according to CDC and Georgia Department of Public Health reports. The state recorded more than 12,400 positive cases over that time, with about 213 reported hospitalizations. Just over 57 percent of Georgians aged 5 and older are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

In a White House briefing last week, she said hospital capacity is an “important barometer.”

“Our hospitals need to be able to take care of people with heart attacks and strokes,” she said. “Our emergency departments can’t be so overwhelmed that patients with emergent issues have to wait in line.”

In her Thursday night tweets, Walensky said community infection rates will determine when and where extra precautions such as mask wearing and testing should be targeted.

“Moving forward, our approach will advise enhanced prevention efforts in communities with a high volume of severe illness and will also focus on protecting our healthcare systems from being overwhelmed,” she tweeted.

The omicron variant of the coronavirus is highly contagious, but generally causes less severe COVID-19 illnesses than other variants, especially among people who are fully vaccinated and boosted, data shows.

Daily U.S. COVID-19 infection rates are down to about 82,000 cases nationwide, according to a database kept by The New York Times, and hospitalizations are down about 44 percent. However, about 2,000 people a day still are dying of the virus, The Times reported.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.