CDC Recommends Nearly All Ohioans Wear Face Masks

OHIO — All 88 Ohio counties have moderate to high rates of COVID-19 transmission, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday.

Only 24 Ohio counties have "moderate" spread, while 64 counties have substantial to high spread rates, the CDC said.

In counties, with substantial or high spread rates, face masks are now recommended in workplaces, public buildings and stores for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. The CDC is also recommending universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students and visitors to K-12 schools regardless of vaccination status given the most recent public health data.

"Children should return to full-time in-person learning in the fall with layered prevention strategies in place," the CDC has said.

The Ohio Department of Health also recommended students wear masks when they return to classrooms in a few weeks, though decisions on district-wide masking policies will fall to individual school systems.

The delta variant is likely driving the surge in new COVID-19 cases around Ohio, according to Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, chief medical officer for the Ohio Department of Health. Last week, Vanderhoff urged all Ohioans to get a COVID-19 vaccine as quickly as possible.

"This is fast becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated," Vanderhoff said.

Many of Ohio's most populous counties, including Cuyahoga (home to Cleveland), Franklin (Columbus) and Hamilton (Cincinnati), are now considered areas of "substantial" COVID-19 transmission.

"High" spread indicates over 100 new cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days. "Substantial" means between 50-99.99 cases within the same time period, and "Moderate" means 10-49.99 new cases.

You can see the CDC's most up-to-date map of Ohio here: U.S. COVID-19 spread rate map.

Of Ohio's 88 counties, 64 have substantial or high rates of COVID-19 spread, meaning residents should mask up indoors, regardless of their vaccination status. Between July 25 to 31, the CDC classified only the following counties as having moderate spread:

• Mercer County
• Morrow County
• Summit County
• Madison County
• Hardin County
• Wyandot County
• Hancock County
• Putnam County
• Wood County
• Lucas County
• Seneca County
• Lake County
• Ashtabula County
• Harrison County
• Tuscarawas County
• Coschoton County
• Holmes County
• Noble County
• Washington County
• Morgan County
• Perry County
• Hocking County
• Vinton County
• Morgan County

Last Tuesday, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky issued this groundbreaking revised guidance that now even vaccinated Americans should return to wearing a mask in indoor public setting in areas of substantial and high transmission, regardless of vaccination status.