How Should You Decide Whether To Keep Wearing A Mask? Dr. Leana Wen Weighs In

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released a new measure for determining Covid-19 community levels. According to these new metrics that now take into account hospitalizations and hospital capacity in addition to infection numbers, nearly 70% of the United States population resides in areas where masks are no longer required. Why did the CDC make this change? How can people make sense of the Covid-19 community level in their area? Should individuals still mask if they no longer are required to? What about kids in schools? And how should parents evaluate activities like sleepovers and playdates?