New Holiday Guidance In CT: What CDC Says On Masking, Travel

CONNECTICUT — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its autumn holiday gathering guidance.

Unvaccinated Connecticut residents should always wear masks indoors, and fully vaccinated people should wear masks in communities with substantial or high transmission levels of the coronavirus, according to the agency.

The new guidance came in the form of a post on the agency's website Friday. Stricter mitigation measures, like capacity limits or avoiding indoor gatherings altogether, are not a part of the revised recommendations.

"Protect those not yet eligible for vaccination such as young children by getting yourself and other eligible people around them vaccinated," the CDC said

Data released by the Connecticut Department of Public Health last week show unvaccinated residents have an 11-times higher risk of dying from the coronavirus, compared to the vaccinated. Their risk of hospitalization is 74 times greater.

There is nothing groundbreaking in the CDC's latest COVID-19 guidance, which follows two weeks after the agency preemptively issued much more stringent holiday recommendations on its website, before suddenly taking them down. Those guidelines, posted in error, suggested Americans get together online, watch virtual events, "drive or walk around your community to wave to neighbors from a safe distance," and even hold "virtual dance parties" in lieu of traditional holiday celebrations.

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The new guidelines note that outdoor gatherings are safer than indoor gatherings, but go no farther than stating that common piece of mitigation advice.

The CDC recommends other precautions if gatherings involve individuals from multiple households or multiple parts of the country. Specifically, taking a COVID-19 test, as well as avoiding crowded indoor spaces before travel, is recommended to reduce risk.

Connecticut residents should not travel unless they are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC guidance. If there's just no stopping you, short road trips, or flights with no layovers, are considered safer than road trips with many stops. As always, if you're sick or have symptoms, do not attend any gathering, the health officials warned.

As of Thursday and the latest release of the data from DPH, 2,374,148 residents out of 3,105,947 eligible people have been fully vaccinated, yielding a 76 percent vaccination rate statewide. Connecticut continues to claim among the highest vaccination rates in the country.

The CDC's full guidance can be viewed online.