White House reporters attending the daily briefings will return to wearing masks, after new Centers for Disease Control guidance identified the District of Columbia as an area of “substantial spread” of Covid-19.
The mask policy applies to all indoor spaces of the White House, and will be required of all staffers and visitors, regardless of their vaccination status, after the CDC revised its guidelines to recommend mask wearing in areas with a high uptick in cases.
The White House Correspondents’ Association President Steven Portnoy announced the new requirement in a letter to members on Tuesday. “Signs are being posted to this effect in the briefing room this afternoon,” he wrote.
Cases in the District of Columbia posted a 7-day moving average of 52 cases per 100,000, just above the level where mask wearing is recommended.
Reporters and staffers shed their masks in the briefing room and other indoor spaces of the White House in May, although correspondents still had to be tested or show proof of vaccination status to enter the complex.