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Jul 30

City Manager's Message July 30: Update on mask guidance

Posted on July 30, 2021 at 4:22 PM by Don Mann

July 30, 2021 — As you know, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced new recommendations concerning indoor masking earlier this week. Specifically, their updated guidance suggests indoor mask wearing for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals in areas of substantial and high transmission areas. Hampton — and most of the region as well as the state — is currently in the “substantial” transmission category. Thus, all of our residents and employees are encouraged to resume indoor masking at this time.

According to the CDC, the reason behind this recommendation is that the delta variant is highly transmissible and causes severe illness. Vaccinated individuals can contract and transmit COVID to others, even while being asymptomatic. Hospitalization rates are rising across the country and are projected to do so locally.

In response to the CDC updates, Gov. Ralph Northam issued the following statement yesterday.

gov northam tweet 07302021

As the Governor stated, vaccination remains the best means of protection against the Delta variant, and other forms of COVID-19, and I urge you all to consider vaccination if you have not already done so. If you need help accessing a vaccination appointment, please check vaccinefinder.org or let us know. We will be glad to help you.

Since the Governor has not mandated indoor masking, we will not be mandating it at this time either. However, we will continue to monitor transmission rates locally and may update our guidance to the workforce as the situation evolves. I do want to remind you that masking remains a requirement for all non-vaccinated individuals. I further want to stress that indoor masking is permitted for any vaccinated individuals who feel more comfortable doing so, and remind us all that we should be non-judgmental about the choices individuals make.

As always, thank you for your consideration of your peers and our customers in this very challenging time.

— Mary

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