States and businesses rush to impose mask mandates after CDC reinstates indoor guidance

Numerous states and businesses rushed to reimpose mask mandates after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its guidance to recommend face coverings indoors in places that are coronavirus hot spots.

The CDC’s latest guidelines also urge schools to require face masks for students, teachers, administrators and visitors.

Officials in Nevada and Kansas City quickly imposed mask mandates anew on Wednesday, according to PBS.

Kansas City’s Democratic Mayor Quinton Lucas promised to issue details on a new mandate for wearing masks indoors in the Missouri city.

‘We cannot ignore the rapid spread of the Covid-19 delta variant in Missouri — outpacing much of the country,’ Lucas said in a statement. ‘We will do all we can to ensure our corner of this state is safe.’

Meanwhile, Ford Motor Company said it would reinstate a mask policy for all workers and visitors at its facilities in Florida and Missouri. Both states have been among the hardest-hit this summer as Covid-19 infections rise primarily in largely unvaccinated populations where the Delta variant is spreading. The US is seeing more than 60,000 new coronavirus cases daily on average.

The CDC’s updated guidance applies to places with at least 50 new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people over the past week. About 60% of counties in the US fall under that umbrella, according to federal officials. Most of the south and southwest regions of the county are subject to the guidance while the northeast, except for large metropolitan cities like New York City and Boston, are exempt.

However, some conservative officials insisted they would not follow the CDC’s recommendations. On Tuesday, the St Louis County Council in Missouri voted to reverse its mask mandate.

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