CDC recommends Bristol County, other communities, to drop mask wearing

COVID-19 Community Levels are a new tool to help communities decide what prevention steps to take based on the latest data and the news is good for Bristol County.

Here are new indicator recommendations from the CDC to determine how you should go about mask wearing minus state and local mandates or policies set by a business.

Low
Wear a mask based on your personal preference, informed by your personal level of risk.

Medium
If you are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe illness talk to your healthcare provider about additional precautions, such as wearing masks or respirators indoors in public. If you live with or have social contact with someone at high risk for severe illness, consider testing yourself for infection before you get together and wearing a mask when indoors with them.

High
Wear a well-fitting mask indoors in public, regardless of vaccination status or individual risk (including in K-12 schools and other community settings). If you are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe illness, wear a mask or respirator that provides you with greater protection.

Bristol County currently falls under the low category.

Under these new guidelines, more than 70 percent of the United States is currently in the low or medium level.

In today’s update, the CDC went on to say that “with current high levels of vaccination and high levels of population immunity from both vaccination and infections, the risk of medically significant disease, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19 is greatly reduced for most people.”