Officials steer away from mask mandates and mitigation measures despite COVID rise

Amid the latest COVID-19 resurgence sweeping the nation, some top health officials are asking Americans to wear face masks again in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.

Officials such as White House COVID-19 response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky have repeatedly encouraged jurisdictions to use the CDC’s community level COVID-19 map, which seeks to identify the risk level of COVID-19 in communities across the country, to help them decide if they should reimplement mitigation measures.

“Local jurisdictions -- cities, counties, states -- should make decisions about mask mandates because communities are different and their patterns of transmission are different,” Jha told ABC News’ Martha Raddatz last week. “The CDC recommendation is that when you're in a high zone ... wearing masks indoors is really important and it really will make a difference.”