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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its guidance on mask-wearing to concentrate on COVID-19 hospitalizations, hospital capacity, and newly reported infections, leaving some parts of the state still encouraged to continue masking up indoors.
With the state's seven-day average COVID-19 positivity rate above 10 percent, with 42 virus-related deaths in the past week, some counties in Maryland are being encouraged to continue wearing facial coverings as a precaution.
The CDC offers a color-coded map - with counties designated as orange, yellow, or green — to help guide local officials and residents.
In green counties, local officials can drop any indoor masking rules. Yellow means people at high risk for severe disease should be cautious and consider masking up based on personal risk, and orange designates places where the CDC suggests masking should be universal indoors, regardless of vaccination status.
As of Friday, June 10, in Maryland, only Howard County and Baltimore City were in the "orange zone."
These Maryland counties were in the "yellow zone," and are being advised to wear masks in certain settings:
- Worcester;
- Somerset;
- Wicomico;
- Cecil;
- Harford;
- Baltimore;
- Montgomery;
- Carroll;
- Anne Arundel;
- Calvert;
- Allegany.
Every other county in Maryland is in the "green" zone and has been given the green light to ditch facial coverings.
Nationally, less than 10 percent of counties are at high risk, representing 22.1 percent of the population, while 57.6 percent are at low risk, representing less than 33 percent of the total population.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky previously cited protection from immunity rising both from vaccination and infection as reasons for altering the guidance on masks.
"Over 55 percent of the U.S. population is in an area with a medium or high community level," Walensky said. "New areas have shifted to medium and high COVID-19 community levels.
"Know your community level and precautions needed.," she added. "It is important to know what prevention steps you should take based on your COVID-19 community level."
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