Uptick in COVID-19 cases sparks the return of mask mandates in spots

COVID-19 is surging again in the U.S., reviving the polarizing debate over masks and mandates even though the risk of hospitalization and death remains low compared to much of the pandemic. Weekly hospitalizations from the virus reached more than 12,600 by mid-August, or about double the level in June, according to federal data, as an alphabet soup of variants and new viral sub-lineages circulate. Those figures pale compared to the 150,00 weekly hospitalizations at the height of the omicron wave in early 2022 and 44,000 per week in February, though...