The director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is asking unvaccinated Americans not to travel during the Labor Day holiday weekend.
“First and foremost, if you are unvaccinated, we would recommend not traveling,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing Tuesday.
Also, anyone who is sick with coronavirus symptoms is urged to stay home, even if they’ve been vaccinated.
The US is surpassing an average of 160,000 new cases a day, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Covid deaths have risen by just 2.3% over the previous week to a seven-day average of 896 deaths per day, Walensky said.
“Throughout the pandemic, we have seen that the vast majority of transmission takes place among unvaccinated people in closed indoor settings,” she said. “Masks are not forever, but they are for now.”
With the spread of the more transmissible Delta variant and many students returning to the classroom for a new academic year, the rise is concerning officials and health experts.
More than 200,000 children tested positive for Covid-19 in the last week, a five-fold increase from a month ago, the American Academy of Pediatrics reported.
The CDC has strong and detailed guidelines that should be implemented to promote children’s safety in the classroom.
Most importantly, CDC recommends that everyone eligible for vaccination be vaccinated before school starts. If you or your vaccine-eligible child is not yet vaccinated, it is never too late to begin your vaccine series.
Next, universal masking is critically important in schools for students, teachers, staff, and visitors, regardless of vaccination status.
CDC also recommends schools employ additional key strategies in school to keep kids safe, including improved ventilation, physical distancing, and establishing screening programs for students and teachers.