Officials in the Washington region are considering reinstating indoor mask mandates for vaccinated people following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classifying D.C., Alexandria and Loudoun County as having substantial community transmission of the coronavirus.

The CDC on Wednesday encouraged vaccinated people to wear masks indoors if they live in places that are listed on its tracker as having substantial or high community transmission.

Sehgal, an assistant professor of health policy at the University of Maryland School of Public Health.

“If you look at D.C., Maryland and Virginia, we’ve seen roughly a 200 percent increase in cases in the past two weeks and that is alarming,” Sehgal said.

“We know that cases are climbing and so it would be reasonable for local leaders to adopt a mask mandate now before cases continue and we end up in a substantial or high transmission area.”.

While many Virginia counties in the metro area aren’t classified as substantial or high, for example, counties in the southern part of the state — where vaccination rates are lower — are.

Our focus is getting as many people vaccinated as possible,” he said.

Health officials also said they are hopeful that the county’s high vaccination rates will help keep cases low and head off the need for additional restrictions.

“Our health officials will continue to monitor the County’s COVID-19 case data and update residents if our COVID-spread level increases to the point where mask policies should be modified to protect the health and safety of every Prince Georgian,” George Askew, who is leading the county’s covid-19 response, said in a statement.

“If you have been vaccinated, you’re safe and we thank you for doing your part,” Hogan said at the opening of the state Board of Public Works hearing

Hogan said the vaccines have been effective, noting that only 0.07 percent of the new covid-19 cases in Maryland over the past seven months are among vaccinated residents

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