{"id":31398,"date":"2021-07-28T19:58:56","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T19:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/07\/28\/dod-mask-mandates-are-coming-back-for-certain-covid-19-hotspots\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T06:52:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T06:52:58","slug":"dod-mask-mandates-are-coming-back-for-certain-covid-19-hotspots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/07\/28\/dod-mask-mandates-are-coming-back-for-certain-covid-19-hotspots\/","title":{"rendered":"DoD mask mandates are coming back for certain COVID-19 hotspots"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Service members<\/a>, civilians and contractors working on Defense Department installations in areas where COVID-19 cases are spiking will be required to mask up indoors, according to a memo signed by Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mandate starts Wednesday in places with \u201csubstantial or high community transmission,\u201d the memo says, per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cService members, Federal employees, onsite contractor employees, and visitors who are not fully vaccinated also need to continue to physically distance consistent with applicable CDC and DoD Force Health Protection guidance,\u201d Hicks added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High-transmission zones include anything marked in orange or red on the CDC\u2019s online tracker<\/a>, which includes much of the southeastern United States, across the Midwest, Texas and into the Mountain West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While masking regulations have come straight from the Pentagon since early 2020, local commanders have had authority to decide who comes on installations and which facilities are open, and to whom, throughout the pandemic, based on local infection statistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DoD\u2019s latest data<\/a>, which hasn\u2019t been updated since July 21, shows that 44 percent of the force \u2015 over 1 million troops \u2015 is fully vaccinated, including both active-duty and reserve troops. Another 228,816 partially vaccinations brings the rate up to 54 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While new COVID-19 infections have slowed since the introduction of the vaccines, service members do continue to be diagnosed. As of July 21, there are 3,600 active cases among troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In general, active-duty troops are more likely to be vaccinated than their reservist counterparts. The Navy reports the highest vaccination rate, at 77 percent, while the Marine Corps has seen the lowest, 58 percent, as of late June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As delta variant cases continue to surge throughout the U.S., the military reported its first deaths since May<\/a>. Both were sailors, one of whom was a doctor at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C.<\/p>\n\n\n