The Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has lifted the indoor mask order it reinstituted earlier this month, a DOE spokesperson said Tuesday.
That is thanks to the fact the COVID-19 community rate for Los Alamos County returned to “medium” on Friday July 15, after being “high” days earlier, the DOE spokesperson said by email. “In accordance with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), masks are no longer required indoors at the Laboratory,” the spokesperson said.
But the Citizens Advisory Board for DOE’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina, sent out an email Tuesday afternoon, saying anyone attending next week’s two-day advisory panel meeting in person should wear a mask.
“Due to increased COVID-19 community transmission rates, masks will be required at the July Full board meeting,” scheduled July 25-26 at the Doubletree Hilton Hotel in Augusta, Ga., according to the Savannah River email.
At least three counties around the Savannah River Site, Aiken and Barnwell in South Carolina and Richmond County, Ga., where Augusta is located, currently have “high” rates, according to the CDC dashboard.
The CDC calls for masking indoors when the community level is high, and the DOE ties its practices to the rates posted by CDC.
