Dra. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky advised unvaccinated people to travel over the next Labor Day weekend as the U.S. responds to an increase in Covid-19 hospitalizations caused by the highly contagious delta variant. .
“Given where we are with the transmission of the disease right now, we would say that people need to consider these risks as they think about traveling,” Walensky said during a Covid White House briefing on Tuesday, noting that people who are fully vaccinated and wear masks can travel. “If you are not vaccinated, we recommend that you do not travel.”
The current seven-day average of new Covid infections is 129,418 cases a day, a 10 percent decrease from the previous week’s seven-day average, Walensky said. The seven-day average of Covid’s hospitalizations stands at about 11,500 hospitalizations a day, a decrease of 5% from last week’s seven-day average, he said, citing data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
Covide deaths have risen just 2.3% from the previous week to a seven-day average of 896 deaths a day, he said.
Walensky also recommended spending time outside with other family members vaccinated during Labor Day weekend and masking when indoors, especially when in public, to help prevent transmission.
“Throughout the pandemic, we have seen that the vast majority of transmission occurs between unvaccinated people in enclosed environments indoors,” Walensky said. “Masks aren’t forever, but they are for now.”