By Charles Dervarics

For a weary citizenry, renewed calls for indoor masking — even among vaccinated individuals — are already shaping up as a political battle among all-too-familiar fault lines, with most liberals supporting the idea and many conservatives opposed.

Calls for a mask mandate 2.0 have come from health experts and government leaders in response to the delta variant of COVID-19, which experts describe as a more potent and transmittable virus. While the greatest concern is for the unvaccinated, some communities are finding that even those with vaccine protection can get “breakthrough” infections and transmit the virus. That has raised the level of concern among health care experts, who see rising hospitalizations in some communities.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending indoor masking in areas with high infection rates and urging face coverings in K-12 schools this fall. The agency notes that vaccinated individuals can easily transmit the Delta strain, putting the unvaccinated, including children, at risk.

“This finding is concerning and was a pivotal discovery leading to CDC’s updated mask recommendation,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said.

While critics cite shifting and confusing guidance from the CDC, Walensky said the situation has changed since May when the agency stopped recommending masks in most settings for fully vaccinated individuals. “Delta is just a different kind of beast. It’s much more contagious.” she said in a CBS interview. 

But conservative critics including former President Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, strongly oppose the move, with Cruz labeling the mandate “absurd” given all the limits of the past 17 months. The partisan splits were evident on Capitol Hill, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi instituted a face covering policy strongly opposed by many House Republicans. 

The delta outbreak also is scrambling state and local politics. Cities such as Washington, D.C., Kansas City, Missouri, and New Orleans have instituted new masking policies, while the governors of Florida and Texas signed executive orders banning such requirements. In his order last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott prohibited mask mandates as well as COVID-19 vaccine requirements among government agencies and municipalities statewide. 

“No governmental entity, including a county, city, school district and public health authority, and no governmental official may require any person to wear a face-covering or to mandate that other person wear a covering," the executive order read.

Masking 2.0 also may meet limited enthusiasm among average Americans, including the vaccinated. Movie theaters are reporting increased business, Broadway theaters are preparing to re-open and concerts are ramping up as evidenced by the 100,000 who turned out in Chicago for Lollapalooza last weekend. Concert attendees had to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative test for COVID, but pictures from the event showed massive crowds and little masking.

However, one potential difference maker this time is how many employers have quickly joined in to re-evaluate mask requirements. Large companies such as Walmart, Kroger and Target are requiring masks for employees in hard-hit areas, and indoor mask requirements are back for visitors at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

Yet one issue for local leaders — and all Americans — is how to determine if your area is experiencing what the CDC considers a high rate of infection. 

The agency calls a community at high risk if it reports more than 50 new cases a week per 100,000 residents. This rate is still far below what many areas of the country experienced during the height of the pandemic. But with schools scheduled to reopen soon and health experts predicting further spikes due to the delta variant, a rapid and prolonged return to “normal” may still be months away.