Return of Masks in the U.S. Amid Rising COVID Cases

The coronavirus is proving persistent, and an alarming update comes from the United States. Hospitals in at least four American states have reinstated the mandatory use of masks due to the increasing number of COVID cases, seasonal flu, and other respiratory illnesses. Healthcare facilities in New York, California, Illinois, and Massachusetts have mandated mask usage for patients and providers. New York's Health Commissioner, Dr. Ashwin Vasan, told WABC TV that mask mandates have been reinstated in all 11 public hospitals in the city, 30 health centers, and five long-term care units. "What we don't want is staffing shortages, right? When we saw the omicron wave in 2022, the biggest problems were not just people getting sick but that we had a lot of our frontline healthcare workers out sick with COVID," Vasan stated to WABC. The latest weekly data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows over 29,000 COVID-related hospitalizations in the U.S. from December 17-23, an increase of over 16% from the previous week. The CDC also reported over 14,700 hospitalizations due to the flu during the same period. The mandate for wearing masks has been a subject of intense political and cultural debate during the COVID pandemic, sparking backlash from those who contradicted medical advice, believing that masks did little to limit the spread of the disease. The conservative-dominated Supreme Court overturned President Joe Biden's federal order for mandatory vaccination and testing for companies, and a judge appointed by his Republican predecessor also struck down Biden's decision on mask mandates in public transportation. There has also been deep resentment among those who wore masks, feeling that their health was jeopardized by those who did not. CDC figures indicate that over 1.1 million Americans have died from COVID, a higher rate than most other wealthy countries.