Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is revising guidelines for wearing masks for Americans to protect themselves from COVID-19. They recommend wearing the most protective mask possible.
This policy was carried out in line with the increasing number of cases of the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 in the United States. On Friday, the death toll from Covid in the US reached 850 thousand cases.
“Americans should wear the most protective mask you can that fits well and you will wear it consistently,” the CDC said.
President Joe Biden said that the federal government plans to make high-quality masks available to Americans for free. In another move, the White House on Friday said the government would begin shipping 500 million COVID-19 tests to America later this month at no cost.
The CDC says it wants to encourage Americans to wear masks rather than encouraging them to wear high-level face shields, but also explicitly says respirators provide the best level of protection.
“Masks are an important public health tool to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and it’s important to remember that any mask is better than no mask,” the CDC added.
The United States counts about 1,800 COVID-19 deaths and 780,000 new infections every day, still the most in the world and a record level of hospitalizations.
The Omicron-related spike appears to be slowing in the areas hit first, including states in the Northeast and South. In Western states, the number of new cases rose 89% in the past week compared to the previous week.
The CDC last May announced that fully vaccinated people could take off their face coverings, as cases of COVID-19 were on the decline. But in July, the CDC said fully vaccinated people should wear masks in indoor public areas in areas where COVID-19 is spreading rapidly. The CDC said this week about 99.5% of the US territory is currently covered by mask recommendations.
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