HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP / KDKA) – Pennsylvania has facilitated the mask’s mandate to allow people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to meet with other vaccinated people without masks or social distance, state health officials said on Monday. .
The new rules also apply to vaccinated people meeting with people in the same family who have not been vaccinated, but who are considered to be at low risk of serious coronavirus disease – such as vaccinated grandparents visiting healthy grandchildren.
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Today @pahealthsec amended the existing Universal Facial Coverage order, issued on November 17, 2020, to align with the @CDCgov Recommendations for fully vaccinated people. The amended order took effect at 12:01 pm on March 17, 2021 + and remains in effect until further notice. pic.twitter.com/e6N7XboWzh
– Department of Health PA (@PAHealthDept) March 22, 2021
Vaccinated people also no longer need to be quarantined after exposure to someone with COVID-19, as long as they do not develop symptoms, state health officials said.
Acting health secretary Alison Beam revised the state’s existing masking order to align it with recent guidance from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Whenever behavioral changes are aligned with the CDC, individual state governments and even the county, it is easier for people to follow,” said Dr. Donald Yealy of the UPMC.
The state said vaccinated people should continue to wear masks and socially distant people in public, and when visiting people in multiple households or with those who are most at risk for serious COVID-19 diseases.
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All other aspects of the state’s current masking order remain in effect.
Kaydee O’Brian, who claims to be immunocompromised, says the new guidelines are good, but how do you know if the person has actually been vaccinated?
“I use this all the time, even if the other person has the injections. Yes, I’m cautious about it, ”says O’Brian.
Dr. Yealy says that if we are not careful, the light at the end of the tunnel could be the beacon for another COVID-19 peak.
“If we are not careful, we will begin to see an increase in cases again and an increase in people who need hospitalization and who may even die from COVID-19,” he says.
Pennsylvania upgraded its masking mandate in November in response to an increase in coronavirus cases. The state required masks inside the home wherever people from different families were gathered, including in private homes, although the authorities relied on voluntary compliance rather than inspection.
Pennsylvania has seen sharp decreases in cases, hospitalizations and deaths after the peak of winter, but cases have increased again – from about 2,500 a day two weeks ago to 2,900 a day this weekend. The decline in hospitalizations has stalled, state officials said.
The state is approaching 1 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus, and nearly 24,800 deaths have been attributed to COVID-19.
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