States, business sort out what new CDC mask guidance means
By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH and STEPHEN GROVES - Associated Press
More than a dozen states quickly embraced new federal guidelines that say fully vaccinated Americans no longer need to wear masks indoors or out in most cases. But other states and cities and some major businesses hesitated amid doubts about whether the approach is safe or even workable.
As many business owners pointed out, there is no easy way to determine who has been vaccinated and who hasn’t. And the new guidelines, issued Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, essentially work on the honor system, leaving it up to people to do the right thing.
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It’s great that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has finally recognized reality in its updated guidance on the coronavirus. But at this point, we are past even that. The “new normal” is over. It’s time to move on and go back to the old normal.
We already knew that vaccinated people do not need to wear masks, indoors or otherwise, before the CDC finally decided to make that its position. We already knew that, because children were not vectors of coronavirus transmission and that schools should be fully reopened, as now Dr. Anthony Fauci and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten are finally saying.
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“What a joke,” tweeted Rory Cooper, reacting to the news. “At the end of the school year, she sees the light after intentionally causing harm to millions of children. She gets no credit. None at all. Her legacy will always be the pain she and her comrades caused.”
Randi Weingarten’s about to storm the beach long after the war ended.
I’m going to guess that she got a heads-up from the Biden administration that the CDC would be formally relaxing rules for vaccinated people today, making the unions’ reluctance to let teachers go back to class that much more absurd. Let history reflect that, on May 13, 2021, the day the federal government finally told Americans to get back to normal, the American Federation of Teachers only managed to beat them to the punch by a matter of hours despite schools famously having been a low-risk environment for COVID for many months.
Home Depot, Fred Meyer among retailers that will still require masks as states embrace new CDC guidelines
Updated 1:33 PM;
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More than a dozen states quickly embraced new federal guidelines that say fully vaccinated Americans no longer need to wear masks indoors or out in most cases. But other states and cities and some major businesses hesitated amid doubts about whether the approach is safe or even workable.
As many business owners pointed out, there is no easy way to determine who has been vaccinated and who hasn’t. And the new guidelines, issued Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, essentially leave it up to people to do the right thing.
Mask guidance is changing in the U.S., leaving states and businesses to sort out how to follow it
More than a dozen U.S. states quickly embraced new federal guidelines that say fully vaccinated Americans no longer need to wear masks indoors or outdoors in most cases. But others hesitated amid doubts about whether the approach is safe or even workable.
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The Associated Press ·
Posted: May 14, 2021 6:11 PM ET | Last Updated: May 14
A customer wearing a face mask exits a store in New York City on Friday. More than a dozen states quickly embraced new U.S. guidelines issued Thursday that say fully vaccinated Americans no longer need to wear masks indoors or outdoors in most cases.(John Minchillo/The Associated Press)