Atlanta

CDC director says don’t throw away your masks yet

By Tom Regan, WSB-TV

COVID-19 Coronavirus illustration

By Tom Regan, WSB-TV

ATLANTA — With the omicron virus surge easing, many places, including schools, are dropping mask rules, but the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says not to act so fast.

Channel 2′s Tom Regan spoke Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who said deaths are stilling running high, hospitalizations are still significant and now is not the time to throw your masks away.

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Depending on where you are in metro Atlanta, masks are a common or uncommon sight

Adel Northrop told Regan that while many may be done with the virus, the virus isn’t done with us.

“My son just called me an hour ago, he has COVID. He had vaccine and his booster and he still got it,” Northrop said.

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While case numbers are coming down, it’s not quite the final chapter of the COVID-19 omicron surge, Walensky said.

“Our hospital admissions now are about at the level that they were at the peak of our delta surge, which means our hospital levels now continue to be quite high,” she said.

Walensky said the virus death count nationwide is still disturbing.

“Yesterday we had over 2,800 deaths from COVID-19. Our seven-day average is about 2,300 deaths per day, so we are watching these numbers very closely,” she said.

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Gov. Brian Kemp is insistent about letting parents decide whether or not to send their child to school in a mask. In fact, he wants a law to say school districts can’t mandate masks.

However, Walensky and the CDC encourage students to keep wearing snug-fitting masks in schools and on buses.

“First and foremost, I think it’s important that we keep our kids in school, that our schools are safe for our students,” she said.

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