CDC Quietly Loosens Mask Recommendations in Healthcare Facilities

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no longer recommends universal masking in healthcare settings, unless the facilities are in areas of high COVID-19 transmission.

The agency’s quietly issued edict last Friday reversed nearly two and a half of years of guidance in recommending universal masking in healthcare settings.

“Updates were made to reflect the high levels of vaccine-and infection-induced immunity and the availability of effective treatments and prevention tools,” the CDC’s new guidance says.

“Facilities can now ‘choose not to require’ that patients, doctors and visitors wear masks at all times if transmission of the virus is low,” the New York Post reports.

“The guidance also applies to home health care, and could be overridden by local measures, the CDC said. It does not apply to non-health care settings.”

The CDC has quietly ended its recommendation for masking in health care facilities. Masks have done nothing to impact covid. It’s all been absurd cosmetic theater for over two years: https://t.co/oDP5WJKXK6

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) September 28, 2022

CDC is quietly reversing many of their recs while no one is paying attention. I went out to dinner and felt bad seeing so many young healthy waiters &waitresses still holding on to outdated CDC recs, believing that a cloth mask is protecting them. https://t.co/R7OKU7hhlZ

— Marty Makary MD, MPH (@MartyMakary) September 28, 2022

The New York Post reported:

Caregivers who work with immunocompromised patients or in parts of facilities experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks should still mask up, regardless of transmission levels, the agency said.

Community transmission defines the amount of COVID-19 spread and “is the metric currently recommended to guide select practices in healthcare settings to allow for earlier intervention, before there is strain on the healthcare system and to better protect the individuals seeking care in these settings,” the CDC says.

Unsurprisingly, some ‘health experts’ aren’t happy seeing the CDC loosen its masking recommendations.

Former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams tweeted:

Also in the article, from @cdcgov, “By this measure of reported cases and test positivity, 73% of counties are currently rated at "high" risk.”

This nuanced have your cake and eat it too approach hasn’t worked A SINGLE TIME throughout the pandemic.
People hear “no more masks!”

— Jerome Adams (@JeromeAdamsMD) September 25, 2022

The @cdcgov could’ve said, we will continue to follow local transmission rates carefully, and make adjustments to the recommendations when the data warrants reconsideration.

Yet the effusive industry praise makes it seem as though there was political pressure to end masks now.

— Jerome Adams (@JeromeAdamsMD) September 25, 2022

Also, have a problem with, “the agency now has exceptions for where masking remains recommended. These include situations like during an outbreak among patients (TOO LATE!) or when caring for patients who are moderately to severely immunocompromised (LIKE MOST IN THAT SETTING!).

— Jerome Adams (@JeromeAdamsMD) September 25, 2022

The Hill noted:

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Community transmission refers to measures of the presence and spread of SARS-CoV-2, CDC said.

“It is the metric currently recommended to guide select practices in healthcare settings to allow for earlier intervention, before there is strain on the healthcare system and to better protect the individuals seeking care in these settings,” CDC said.

Right now, about 73 percent of the US is experiencing “high”rates of transmission.

Community levels “place an emphasis on measures of the impact of COVID-19 in terms of hospitalizations and healthcare system strain, while accounting for transmission in the community,” the CDC said.

Only 7 percent of counties are considered high risk, while nearly 62 percent of counties are considered low.

In addition, the new guidance includes a list of exceptions when people might choose to mask, compared to the previous guidance that included a list of exceptions when masking was not recommended.