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A New World? What CDC’s Revised COVID Transmission Metrics Mean for Masks in State

February 28, 2022

New COVID-19 transmission metrics introduced Feb. 25 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has suddenly left Connecticut with every county except Middlesex classified as low transmission, with masks no longer recommended in indoor public spaces.

New guidance for Middlesex, as a medium-transmission county, includes talking to your healthcare provider about wearing a mask if you are at high risk of severe illness, getting tested if you have symptoms and keeping up to date with COVID-19 vaccines. Hartford, New Haven, New London, Windham, Tolland, Litchfield and Fairfield counties are at low transmission levels, with recommendations of up-to-date vaccinations and getting tested if you have symptoms.The new metrics include total number of new cases in an area, hospital beds in use and hospital admissions.

State and local governments and private businesses, such as local retail stores, still have the option of requiring masks.

“What we would expect is federal guidelines to be relaxed as well as the state guidelines,” says Dr. Ulysses Wu, Hartford HealthCare’s System Director of Infection Disease and Chief Epidemiologist. “And that would leave it up to the local-level decision-making because (COVID) isn’t as widespread across the country at this time. And that’s a good thing.”

Before the new metrics were announced, five Connecticut counties were classified as high transmission, the other three as substantial. The new categories, as shown in the map below, are high, medium and low. The before-after (see “before” in map at bottom) categorizations reversed dramatically, with 94 percent of counties nationwide previously advised to wear masks and now only 37 percent of countries qualifying for the mask recommendation.

Connecticut’s safety protocol requiring masks in schools and childcare center expired Feb. 28, leaving and mask guidance to local districts. Masks are still required in healthcare settings, shelters and anywhere else healthcare or supportive services are offered, including residential care homes, group homes and other congregate living settings.

“We’re almost out of the woods for now,” says Dr. Wu, “but we’re not quite there at this point. So what I would recommend would really depend on the situation. If you’re going to something like grocery store, where it’s big, wide open spaces and maybe not so many people, in a week or two you may want to consider not wearing a mask.”

After: CDC’s New COVID-19 Transmission Criteria

Here’s the redrawn national map following the CDCs update guidance:

Before: CDC’s Previous COVID-19 Transmission Criteria

Here’s what the national map looked like before the CDC updated transmission metrics. Use the dropdown menu or the slider to select a date.