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As coronavirus cases continue to surge in the US fueled by the Delta variant, the CDC introduced new masking guidelines.

Everyone should mask up indoors, whether vaccinated or not, in areas of the country at higher risk from the virus. The CDC also recommended that everyone in K-12 schools wear a mask indoors.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said on Tuesday that new data about Delta had prompted the change from May, when the CDC had said that masks were no longer necessary for fully vaccinated people.

Of particular concern, the CDC said the Delta variant makes it easier for vaccinated people to transmit the virus.

The spread of the highly transmissible variant could put the coronavirus "just a few mutations potentially away" from evading vaccines.

To counter the surge, the US government is planning to get tougher on vaccine mandates too. Biden is planning to announce a vaccine mandate for federal employees and contractors on Thursday, CNN reports.

It could follow some agencies and other employers that have begun to mandate employees get vaccinated.


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A schoolteacher, wearing a mask, checks the temperature of one of her masked students, before the child is let inside.
A school employee checks the temperature of a student on the first day of in-person classes at Baldwin Park Elementary School on August 21, 2020 in Orlando, Florida.
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- Lydia

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