Mask-wearing mandates are returning in some places as coronavirus cases rise

Mask requirements are resurfacing in some places as hospital admissions due to the coronavirus increase.

Hollywood studio Lionsgate implemented a mask-use mandate on certain floors of its offices in Santa Monica, California, after several employees tested positive for the virus. According to The Hollywood Reporter.

And in Atlanta, Morris Brown College announced the imposition of wearing a mask for two weeks in addition to banning large gatherings.

Some hospitals have also begun to require face coverings again, including Kaiser Permanente Hospital in California and two Upstate Medical University facilities in Syracuse, New York.

Meanwhile in Kentucky, the Lee County School District canceled classes on Tuesday and Wednesday and switched to remote learning on Thursday and Friday, citing a wave of students and staff infected with the coronavirus, strep throat, flu or other illnesses.

Nearly 13,000 people were hospitalized nationally with the coronavirus last week, a number that has doubled since late June, according to the Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Per capita, hospitalizations for COVID-19 are highest in Delaware, North Carolina, Missouri, Florida and Hawaii, while Massachusetts, Vermont and Kentucky have seen the largest rises over the past two weeks, according to the New York Times tracker.

But the numbers are still much lower than they used to be. For example, this time last year, there were more than 41,000 hospitalizations for the coronavirus. The number of deaths from the virus last week – 251 – was at its lowest level since the pandemic began in March 2020.

Health officials are closely watching three variables.

Earlier this month, the EG.5 subspecies, also known as Eris, became the dominant coronavirus strain in the United States and was also classified as a “variant of interest” by the World Health Organization.

As of last week, Iris accounted for more than a fifth of all new COVID-19 cases in the country, according to the CDC.

The FL.1.5.1 variant, informally called “Fornax”, accounts for 13.3% of cases, nearly double what it was two weeks ago.

EG.5 and FL.1.5.1 both contain mutations that may help them spread more quickly.

However, the World Health Organization said earlier this month that the public health risks posed by EG.5 are “low globally” and that there is no evidence that it causes more severe disease than previous strains. Iris is a descendant of the Omicron XBB.1.9.2 sub-variant.

In addition, the CDC on Wednesday released a summary risk assessment for the BA.2.86 subvariant, which has only been identified in a handful of cases worldwide — two in the United States — but is notable, health officials say, because it contains Multiple genetic differences from previous versions of COVID-19.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it may be more infectious in people who have previously had COVID-19 or been vaccinated. But the agency says it is too early to say for sure whether it is more contagious or causes more severe disease than other strains.

The CDC has suggested that BA.2.86 is likely to be more prevalent than has been reported, citing the fact that it has been detected in five countries, indicating international transmission.

The agency also said that the subvariant was detected in a US wastewater monitoring sample, but did not say where it was.

Amidst a slight return to wearing a muzzle, the Royal Society of the United Kingdom met Thursday published a study It found that there was clear evidence that strict and rapid implementation of non-pharmaceutical safety measures during the pandemic – such as wearing masks, social distancing, travel restrictions and more – was effective in some countries in reducing the spread of COVID-19.