DELTA DANGER

White House Mulls New Mask Push as Cases Nearly Triple in Two Weeks

One move could be to ask people to mask up when vaccinated and unvaccinated people mix at indoor venues.

President Joe Biden’s top health officials are reportedly weighing up a move to ask Americans to wear masks in more places—even if they’re vaccinated—after COVID-19 cases nearly tripled over the past three weeks. Data from Johns Hopkins University shows the seven-day rolling average for daily new cases shot to more than 37,000 this week, up from less than 13,700 back on July 6. According to The Washington Post, the spiraling cases have sparked White House discussions about whether guidance should be changed after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dropped its mask mandate for vaccinated Americans. The Post reports that one move could be to ask people to mask up when vaccinated and unvaccinated people mix at indoor venues, including malls and movie theaters. However, the Biden officials told the paper that it would ultimately be up to the CDC to change official guidance.