Vox Sentences - Masks are back

The CDC reversed its mask guidelines for vaccinated people; a pro-democracy protester was found guilty in Hong Kong’s first security law trial.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Gabby Birenbaum.

Masks on

Rob Kim/Getty Images

• In a reversal of its earlier guidance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are recommending that vaccinated people wear masks indoors in areas experiencing a certain coronavirus spread threshold. [Vox / German Lopez]
• The new guidance relies on recent studies showing that vaccinated people with breakthrough infections can carry just as much viral load as unvaccinated people, raising the likelihood that they can spread the virus to the unvaccinated. [NBC News]
• In explaining the decision, Anthony Fauci said the science and confidence behind vaccines have not changed, but the virus has. The delta variant is now more prevalent and can be transmitted by vaccinated people much more easily than the alpha variant. [CNN / Madeline Holcomb]
• The guidance suggests that vaccinated people wear masks in areas with high transmission. That could include the entirety of Florida, Arkansas, and Louisiana. [Newsweek / Ed Browne]
• Some states automatically implemented the new guidelines, such as Illinois and Nevada. The CDC’s recommendation calls for mask-wearing in places where there are more than 50 new infections per 100,000 residents — a baseline occurring in about two-thirds of all counties. [NYT / Daniel E. Slotnick, Apoorva Mandavilli, and Sheryl Gay Stolberg]
• A list of the current mask requirements in every state can be found here. [USA Today / Kate Mabus]
• The CDC has additionally recommended mask-wearing in K-12 schools for all students older than 2, regardless of vaccination status. [NPR / Allison Aubrey]
• Already, some Republican states are ignoring the guidance. In South Carolina, for example, a new law banning state funds from being used to require face masks at education facilities means that the state cannot require masks in schools. [AP / Meg Kinnard]

First verdict under Hong Kong security law

• The first trial under Hong Kong’s new security law ended in a guilty verdict for the defendant, who drove a motorcycle into a group of police officers while waving a flag with the banned slogan, “Liberate Hong Kong.” [AP / Alice Fung]
• Tong Ying-kit, 24, was found guilty of inciting secession and terrorism after pleading not guilty. The panel of judges said he was aware that the slogan he carried had a secessionist meaning. [WSJ / Elaine Yu]
• In the trial, the defense and the prosecution argued over the meaning of the protest phrase, and whether or not it is interpreted as both a call for secession and for others to take similar protest action. [South China Morning Post / Brian Wong]
• The trial is likely a sign of things to come for the more than 100 people arrested since the implementation of the security law in 2020. Tong is yet to be sentenced, but could face life in prison. [BBC News]
• Hong Kong’s judiciary has long enjoyed a reputation of independence and respect. But their enforcement of the new law with a guilty verdict shows that the days in which judges upheld traditional civil liberties are ending. [NYT / Austin Ramzy]

A bipartisan group of senators appears ready to advance an infrastructure deal with more than $500 billion in new spending. A cloture vote could come on Wednesday evening. [New York Times]

• US swimmer Katie Ledecky won the gold medal in the women’s 1,500-meter freestyle swim, her first of the Tokyo Olympics. [Washington Post / Dave Sheinin]
• Congressional Democrats are pushing President Biden to extend the eviction ban, which is set to expire this weekend. [Politico / Katy O’Donnell and Kellie Mejdrich]
• New Peruvian president Pedro Castillo, a leftist and school teacher, will be sworn in today. [LA Times / Patrick J. McDonnell and Adriana León]
• Astronomers have discovered water vapor in the atmosphere of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system. [Popular Science / Hannah Seo]

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“The Delta variant is showing every day its willingness to outsmart us. In rare occasions, some vaccinated people infected with a Delta variant after vaccination may be contagious and spread the virus to others.”

[CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, on the new masking guidance]

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