With the Delta variant sweeping the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director, the masking guidelines remain unchanged Reuters

Carl O’Donnell and Jeff Mason

(Reuters)-US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky (Rochelle Walensky) said on Thursday that although the delta variant of the coronavirus is sweeping the United States, leading to an increase in infection rates, the United States is not affected by disease control. The Prevention Center has not yet revised its masking guidelines.

Walensky declined to say whether the CDC is considering changing the guidelines. The CDC relaxed its guidelines in May so that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks in most public places.

Her comments coincided with reports that government officials were discussing whether to change the guidelines for wearing masks in response to the outbreak caused by the Delta variant.

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said that such a decision will be made by the CDC, and President Joe Biden said that experts are studying any necessary changes.

Biden told reporters at the White House: “What they are doing is…investigating all aspects of any changes that may or may occur.” “We follow science.”

The President said on Wednesday that as school districts across the country prepare to reopen in the next school year, the CDC may recommend that unvaccinated children wear masks in schools.

Valensky said that the average number of new cases in the United States over seven days has increased by 53% from the previous week. The Delta variant was originally discovered in India and now accounts for more than 80% of new cases nationwide, and has been found in more than 90 countries.

Varensky said that as COVID-19 cases continue to surge, some hospitals across the United States are reaching capacity limits.

The increase in cases is concentrated in areas with low vaccination rates. White House COVID-19 Director Jeffrey Zients said that Florida, Texas, and Missouri accounted for 40% of all new cases in the country, and about one-fifth of all new cases in the United States occurred In Florida.

Zients stated that the United States will continue to distribute tens of millions of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide.

The White House announced in June that it plans to distribute approximately 80 million COVID-19 vaccines worldwide.

Anthony Fauci, a top infectious disease expert in the United States, said that people receiving Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE:) COVID-19 vaccine have no reason to think they need additional injections Pfizer Inc (NYSE:) or Modern (NASDAQ:) The company’s vaccine to protect itself from new variants of the virus.

The CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are reviewing the data to see if the immunity of the vaccinated person has decreased to determine whether additional booster injections are needed.