The US surgeon general on Sunday defended a renewed mask mandate in Los Angeles, saying other areas may have to follow and adding that he is "deeply concerned" about the Covid-19 outlook in the fall. Dr. Vivek Murthy, who as surgeon general is a top government spokesman on public health matters, appeared on several news programs just hours after a new indoor mask mandate took effect in Los Angeles. No other US city has returned to an indoor mask mandate, but Murthy said he expected others to follow amid a surge in the highly transmissible Delta variant of the virus. After months of declining spread, the number of Covid-19 cases in the US soared by a stunning 135 percent over the past two weeks, with increases seen in nearly every state. Following US President Joe Biden and other administration officials, Murthy sharply criticized social media platforms for allowing Covid-19 misinformation to proliferate.

Source: Mint July 18, 2021 14:37 UTC