Mask mandates could return as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations rise

Santa Clarita, CA - March 03: Edith Matus helps customers at Jazmin's Bakery on Main Street in Newhall, Thursday, Mar 3, 2022.

The CDCs new COVID 19 thresholds are expected to put LA County in a medium and low transmission phase after months in high WASHINGTON (AP) - COVID-19 cases are increasing in the United States – and could get even worse over the coming months, federal health officials warned Wednesday in urging areas hardest hit to consider reissuing calls for indoor masking.Increasing numbers of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations are putting more of the country under guidelines issued by the U.S.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that call for masking and other infection precautions.Right now, the increases are concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest. "(But) prior increases of infections, in different waves of infection, have demonstrated that this travels across the country," said Dr.

Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, said at a White House briefing with reporters.RELATED: LA County could fall out of 'low' virus risk category as COVID cases riseFDA officials said in a statement that they decided to restrict J&J's vaccine after taking another look at data on the risk of life-threatening blood clots within two weeks of vaccination.For an increasing number of areas, "we urge local leaders to encourage use of prevention strategies like masks in public indoor settings and increasing access to testing and treatment," she said.However, officials were cautious about making concrete predictions, saying how much worse the pandemic gets will depend on several factors, including to what degree previous infections will protect against new variants.Last week, White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr.