ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As the Tampa Bay area continues to see a surge of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, some local governments are reinstating mask mandates for government employees.
On Wednesday, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman tweeted that all city government employees will be required to wear face-coverings inside city facility common areas and within six feet of others.
"Given the rise of COVID-19 in our community, our city government is again mandating face masks for all employees inside city facility common areas and within six feet of others. We are continuing to think through all other mitigation efforts. Thanks to those businesses doing same," Kriseman tweeted.
So far the mandate does not apply to non-employees, according to the mayor's tweet.
On Monday, the 13th Circuit Court in Hillsborough County began requiring everyone to wear masks inside buildings, regardless of vaccination status.
According to CDC data, both Pinellas and Hillsborough counties have a high level of community transmission of COVID-19. In fact, all but one county in Florida is "red-hot" regarding coronavirus transmissibility.
The CDC reversed course last week on some of its masking guidelines, recommending that vaccinated people return to wearing masks indoors in parts of the U.S. where there are surging cases of COVID-19.
People who are unvaccinated always have been asked to wear a mask.
Last week, a leaked CDC document warned the delta variant appeared to be as contagious as chickenpox.