ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News has learned that the city of Atlanta has issued a mask mandate as the delta variant of COVID-19 continues to spread across the city.
It comes just two days after the mayor of Savannah issued a similar mandate for that city.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms issued the order “requiring all persons in a public place, including private businesses and establishments, to wear a mask or a cloth face covering over their nose and mouth when indoors.”
The city made the decision after a call with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday, where the CDC recommended that some vaccinated people resume wearing masks indoors amid a recent spike seen in COVID-19 cases nationwide.
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CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said case spikes were being driven by people who continue to refuse to get vaccinated against the viral infection.
“This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” she said at a White House COVID-19 Response news briefing July 16. “We are seeing outbreaks of cases in parts of the country that have low vaccination coverage because unvaccinated people are at risk and communities that are fully vaccinated are generally faring well.”
About 34.5 million COVID-19 cases have been reported across the U.S., resulting in more than 611,000 deaths, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University. Globally, 194.9 million COVID-19 cases have been reported, resulting in over 4.1 million deaths.
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