The low vaccination rate and the substantial transmission of Covid in Stark County has the CDC urging residents to begin masking indoors again, regardless of their vaccination status.
In May, the CDC said vaccinated people no longer needed to wear masks while indoors, but now they say new evidence shows vaccinated individuals can spread the delta variant at a high rate.
The CDC has laid out four categories of transmission: low, moderate, substantial and high. The CDC advises masking indoors for areas with either substantial or high transmission rates – Stark County falls under substantial.
The Ohio Department of Health says at least nine people in Stark County have been hospitalized in the last week with Covid-19, although deaths from the virus are happening at a rare rate.
Canton City Schools has rolled out a mask mandate, making all students, teacher and staff wear masks while indoors – unless a medical exemption can be proved with medical paperwork. This ruling comes due to the low number of Stark County residents who are vaccinated, which is roughly 43%, according to the Ohio Department of Health. The younger population in Canton remain the lowest vaccinated category.