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DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado will now require staff, visitors and residents in residential care facilities to wear masks, regardless of their COVID-19 vaccination status.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment released the updated guidance on Tuesday night. It falls in line with the most recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends indoor masking in areas where case transmission is surging.

“The recent CDC announcement recommends that people
in substantial and high transmission areas wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status ,” said Randy Kuykendall, director of the Health Facilities and EMS Division at CDPHE. “As we look to decrease new COVID-19 cases, additional or more stringent infection
prevention measures may be necessary at times, and our experts will continue to monitor virus data so we can make mitigation decisions that best fit Colorado’s residential care facilities.”

The new guidance will also require fully vaccinated staff and residents who have had close contact with a COVID-positive person to get tested, both immediately after the exposure and daily during the incubation period.

The guidance also added that residents who are not fully vaccinated should be excluded from group activities and communal dining anytime the facility has implemented outbreak testing.