COVID-19

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines for vaccinated people. They recommend students, teachers and school visitors wear masks inside schools, regardless of vaccine status. Also, everyone, including vaccinated individuals, are urged to wear masks in public indoor spaces in areas with substantial or high transmission.

From The Texas Tribune: 

With less than half of Texans vaccinated and the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus spreading, the percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back positive in the state has climbed to a rate unseen since winter.

While new variants of the COVID-19 virus emerge in Lubbock, vaccination rates have become stagnant. Just over 40% of Lubbock residents have been fully vaccinated -- that’s less than Texas’ vaccinated population, which is trailing behind the rest of the United States.

The Delta variant, which was first detected in India, now accounts for more than 6% of all infections in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And this highly transmissible variant may be responsible for more than 18% of cases in some Western U.S. states.