The COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve around the world, including in the United States.

Recently, the mayor of Orange County, Florida has noted that they are in “crisis mode” due to the rising COVID-19 cases in the county, and we shared that the United States will not be lifting its travel restrictions due to COVID-19 concerns. Earlier today, we shared that the Centers for Disease Control may be updating their recommendations regarding mask wearing and now we’ve got an update.

Previously, the CDC’s recommendation noted that vaccinated individuals did not need to wear masks in most locations — outdoor or indoor. According to The Washington Post, the CDC has issued an updated recommendation regarding masks. The CDC is now recommending that vaccinated individuals wear masks again in certain circumstances.

Specifically, according to CNN, the CDC is recommending vaccinated people who live in places with “high” or “substantial” COVID-19 transmission resume wearing masks indoors.

According to The Washington Post, the CDC’s updated guidance also recommends that vaccinated people who live with vulnerable household members, including young children and/or individuals who are immunocompromised, wear masks indoors in public spaces.

The CDC is also recommending universal masking for teachers, staff, and students in school, whether they are fully vaccinated or not.

According to The Washington Post, this change in the CDC’s recommendations was “spurred by new data showing that on rare occasions, some vaccinated people ‘may be contagious and spread the virus to others.’” CNN notes that one health official said they believe vaccinated people represent a small amount of COVID-19 transmissions “and the overwhelming majority of spread is still by unvaccinated people. But they know breakthrough cases can happen and emerging data suggests some vaccinated people can spread it.”

CNN shares that White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki notes that the CDC’s decisions are based on a “changing situation.” Psaki said, “The reality is we are dealing with a much different strain of this virus than we were even earlier in the spring, back in May.”

COVID-19 infections in the US have quadrupled in July from about 13,000 cases per day early in the month, to more than 54,000 now, according to the Washington Post.

When we searched on the CDC’s website, Orange County (where part of Disney World is located), as well as Osceola County, where more of Disney World is located, are both in the “high” category for community transmission related to COVID-19.

As of July 20th, the Delta variant made up 83% of all sequenced COVID-19 cases in the U.S. In June, the CDC estimated that the variant only made up 26% of new COVID-19 cases, according to CNN.

Orange County, Florida Mayor Jerry Demings also recently recommended that people wear masks indoors and in crowded places. Orange County is where part of Walt Disney World Resort is located.

Mayor Demings said that “According to the CDC, Florida, Texas, and Missouri account for 40% of all cases nationwide at this time.” He also previously noted that for the second week in a row, Florida accounts for 1 in 5 new cases in the United States.

Right now, Disney has not yet announced any change in its mask rules. We’ll be looking out for any updates regarding masks, so stay tuned to DFB for more.

Click here to read more about Orange County, Florida being in “crisis mode.”

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The post NEWS: CDC Announces New Indoor Mask Recommendations first appeared on the disney food blog.