ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The CDC says Monroe County is now a substantial transmission area for the COVID-19 virus.
The CDC mask guidelines announced last week recommend both vaccinated and unvaccinated people wear masks in areas of substantial or high transmission.
Being listed as an area of substantial spread could mean that Monroe County health officials will have to make the call to require masks indoors for unvaccinated and vaccinated people.
A map on the CDC's website shows counties in blue, meaning low transmission. Yellow is for moderate and orange is for substantial transmission. Currently, Monroe County is designated as orange.
According to the CDC, the county's positivity rate jumped almost 103% over the weekend, changing its color to orange.
The county now has 371 cases as the delta variant continues to spread across the country. Many parts of the U.S. are in red, which is considered high transmission.
Many people are not happy about the possibility of needing to wear masks again. On Monday, Monroe County Commissioner of Public Health Dr. Michael Mendoza is expected to reveal more about what this will mean moving forward. Just last week, County Executive Adam Bello said he had no plans of implementing a mask mandate.