CDC: All Mass. counties at high or substantial risk of COVID-19 transmission – WCVB Boston

All 14 counties in Massachusetts are now either at a “high” or “substantial” risk level of community COVID-19 transmission, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The latest CDC map shows that eight counties in the Bay State are in the high category (red), while the remaining six are in the substantial category (orange).Essex and Plymouth counties went from a substantial to high risk of community COVID-19 transmission, joining Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Nantucket, Hampden and Suffolk counties in the high-risk level category.Hampshire County was at a “moderate” risk of community transmission, but is now at substantial risk. Barnstable, Franklin, Middlesex, Norfolk and Worcester counties remain at substantial risk.According to the CDC, there are now just two counties in the entirety of New England — Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont — that are below high and substantial risk levels of community COVID-19 transmission. Kennebec County, Maine, and Orange County, Vermont, are currently at moderate risk of community transmission.The latest CDC guidance recommends that everyone in a place with a “substantial” or “high” coronavirus transmission rate wear a face-covering in indoor, public places regardless of vaccination status.The national agency also recommends indoor masks for all teachers, staff, students and visitors at schools nationwide, regardless of vaccination status.Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health issued its own updated mask guidance and advised vaccinated people who have weakened immune systems, who are at an increased risk of severe COVID-19 because of age or health conditions, or who live with anyone who is unvaccinated or at increased risk, to wear a face-covering when indoors and not in their own homes.Massachusetts COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and fatalitiesMassachusetts vaccination progress