As of July 27, 2021, the CDC released new updates on the recommendations for fully vaccinated people of COVID-19. With the new school year starting while the B.1.617.2 Delta variant of COVID-19 circulates and increases cases in the United States, the recommendations of the CDC have changed and will impact the everyday lives of American citizens.
What do the new CDC recommendations suggest, and how will they affect the daily lives of you and your coworkers?
Here is how the CDC Guidance will affect the daily lives of American citizens.
Masks in Public
The CDC has once again recommended that anyone, including fully vaccinated people, should wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high transmission. These areas are determined to be substantial or high transmission based on transmission level changes in counties across the country. To determine whether you should be wearing a mask indoors in your county, visit https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view and view the weekly case changes.
Masks for the Immunocompromised
Whether or not someone is living in an area of high transmission or not, an individual may still decide to wear a mask if they or someone in their household is immunocompromised, at risk of severe disease, or not fully vaccinated. Make sure to stay updated with your health, as well as the health and vaccinations status of those around you, and ask whether they would prefer you to wear a mask or not.
Keep Getting Tested
Although the vaccination rates are increasing in the United States, the CDC still recommends that if you have been exposed to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, you should be tested 3-5 days after exposure, and wear a mask in public indoor settings for 14 days or until you receive a negative test result. This applies to everyone, regardless of vaccination status. Additionally, if you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, be sure to get tested. COVID-19 tests are still readily available around the country and should be utilized if someone is suspected of being exposed to COVID-19.
Masks in Schools
Many schools have already released a mandate for all staff, teachers, students, and visitors to wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status. Now that the CDC has recommended universal indoor masking inside schools, even more, schools are requiring that everyone wears masks. Even with the Delta variant and the mask requirements, schools will return to full-time in-person learning in the fall, as long as they have proper prevention strategies in place.
Travel
In the United States, fully vaccinated people are able to travel at low risk to themselves within the country. However, international travelers should pay close attention to the status of their destination, as well as their laws and guidelines before traveling. A traveler is required to follow the laws of the country they are traveling to, including that relating to COVID-19 procedures. Additionally, when traveling in the United States, people are required to wear a mask on planes, buses, trains, and other public transportation and while indoors at the transportation hubs such as airports and stations, regardless of vaccination status. They are not required to wear a mask in outdoor areas, such as open decks or an uncovered top deck of a bus.
Get Tested with ClearStar
If you or an employee or coworker is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 or has been exposed to someone who may have it, ClearStar offers accurate and rapid test kits. ClearStar provides a CRL Rapid Response™ kit — a saliva-based molecular diagnostic test — to determine whether the virus is active or not. The results are available within 24-48 hours, on average.
To place an order for a COVID-19 test, contact the ClearStar Medical Information Services office at 321.821.3383 or [email protected] To ask about background checks and other medical screening services, call +1.888.982.4648.
To read more about the specifics of the CDC’s recommendations, go to https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated-guidance.html.
