CDC Now Recommends Wearing Face Masks Indoors In 9 FL Counties

FLORIDA — Following a notable increase in coronavirus cases as Florida residents and visitors gathered for major concerts and festivals over the Memorial Day weekend, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has expanded its recommendation that people wear face masks when attending indoor activities or using public transportation to Hillsborough, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, Pasco and Alachua counties.

On Thursday, a spike in coronavirus cases prompted the CDC to issue an indoor mask recommendation for Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward counties.

As of Monday, the Florida Department of Health has yet to issue its own advisory based on the CDC recommendation or make any statement regarding the CDC's advisory.

Florida is among 49 states and the District of Columbia that have received a CDC indoor face mask recommendation in response to rising COVID-19 rates.

Other states include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming as well as the District of Columbia.

Of those states, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Washington are requiring face masks in limited settings.

The other states are recommending or encouraging the use of face masks in indoor setting.

Only Florida and New Hampshire have not responded to the CDC recommendation.

Despite a sense of urgency by the Florida Department of Health, certain indoor venues in the nine Florida counties singled out by the CDC have revised or are considering revising their face mask protocols.

The Dunedin Fine Art Center will begin mandatory indoor mask requirements on Tuesday.

And while 66 of Florida's 67 counties have lifted their states of emergency for the coronavirus pandemic, Miami-Dade County opted on May 26 to extend its state of emergency.

While Amalie Arena in Tampa and the Amway Center in Orlando are recommending that visitors follow the CDC recommendations, the two major event venues stopped short of reinstating its mask mandate.

At the FTX Arena in Miami, the NBA said "Mask wearing is strongly recommended throughout the FTX Arena for all guests other than in the Red Zone where it will still be mandated for all HEAT home games."

The recommendation is part of the CDC’s community Level classification system, which estimates if the respiratory disease has a low, medium or high risk of straining health-care systems in the county.

The CDC has determined that these nine Florida counties have a high risk level. All other Florida counties have either low or medium risk levels.