NBC News reported that seven states, including Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico now have full mask mandates.
Six more states have mandated mask-wearing since July, for both unvaccinated as well as vaccinated citizens.
Six additional states also require masks for people who are not vaccinated.
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NBC News reported that six states now have full-mask mandates for both vaccinated or unvaccinated people.
Seven states have full mask mandates: Hawaii, New Mexico (Nevada), Oregon, Louisiana and Hawaii. Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. also have them.
Additional six states, including Connecticut, Connecticut, Indiana, New York and Connecticut, require masks for unvaccinated people.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that masks are worn in areas where there is high COVID-19 transmission.
As the more transmittable Delta variant spreads, hospitalizations and cases have increased. According to the New York Times, there are over 160,000 new cases per day in the US. Comparatively, around Memorial Day, the US averaged fewer than 250,000 cases per day.
While some states may reenact mask mandates in some cases, others are fighting to have their own.
Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida issued an executive order banning school mask mandates. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order prohibiting school mask mandates. The state withheld salaries from the Alachua County and Broward county board members who refused to comply with the order and imposed the mask mandates.
Miguel Cardona, Education Secretary, has stated that states that prohibit schools from having mask mandates could be subject to civil rights investigations.
Public health experts believe that masks could reduce the death rate by half, considering that COVID-19 could kill another 100,000 Americans in December.
Wearing masks can save as many lives as 50,000. "That's how important behaviors can be," Ali Mokdad, a professor of Health Metric Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, stated to the Associated Press.
Experts also stress the importance of vaccinating more people to stop the spread of the virus.
According to the CDC, 53% have been fully vaccinated so far.
Dr. Anthony Fauci stated that the US could be able to end the pandemic by spring 2022 if the millions of Americans who have not been vaccinated are vaccinated.
