California Mask-Wearing Back

California's goal of unmasked normalcy has taken a major step backward. Eleven counties in the greater Bay Area are asking residents, including those who are vaccinated, to wear masks indoors, according to a San Francisco Chronicle post.

Los Angeles County, home to over 10 million people, is mandating masks indoors again. New statewide cases have surpassed 4,100 a day over the last week, about quadruple the level a month ago, which scientists have attributed to the highly contagious Delta variant.

Apple, one of the tech giants most eager to have employees return to the office part-time, has reportedly delayed its reopening from September until October because of the case increase. Smaller companies are also considering delaying office returns.

Back in the spring, as vaccines became widely available, health experts were optimistic but concerned that as long as a significant number of people remained unvaccinated, a dangerous variant could emerge.

The Delta variant now accounts for 83% of U.S. cases, according to the CDC, and the agency's director Rochelle Walensky said last week that "this is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated."

There are also concerns that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is less protective against the Delta variant, as a new study of 36 people suggests, with its lead author, Nathaniel Landau of NYU, saying that a booster shot should be considered.

Case levels remain far below the winter surge, but the swirl of uncertainty and potential for more restrictions underscores that the nascent recovery is a fragile one.

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