Several local public health agencies across the Denver metro area recommending residents and visitors to wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status.

These recommendations align with the new COVID-19 guidance issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this week as cases rise across the country due to the delta variant. 

Since the announcement, Broomfield Public Health, Jefferson County Public Health and Tri-County Public Health, which represents Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties, made similar recommendations, however there is no requirement. 

“We know this is discouraging news, especially after months of progress,” said Dr. Dawn Comstock, executive direction of Jefferson County Public Health in a release. “We don’t want to give up the ground our communities worked so hard to take during this battle against COVID-19. By taking recommended precautions now, we can work to minimize viral transmission to prevent the Delta variant from spreading even further.”

Denver Department of Public Health and Environment said it has reviewed the CDC’s new guidance and encourages people to make decision that best suit them. 

“We respect this guidance and encourage individuals and businesses to make the decision about wearing a face covering that is best for them,” said Bob McDonald, the executive director of the department in an email statement on Thursday. 

The new CDC guidances recommends that vaccinated people wear masks in indoor public places in counties with “high” or “substantial” spread of COVID-19. The agency defines substantial transmission as 50 or more COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people over a seven-day period.

This guidance applies to most counties in the state, including the entire metro and Front Range.

As of Thursday, Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas Counties had incident rates above 70 cases per 100,000 people and each saw an increase of over 140% in incidents, according to Tri-County Health Department. 

Health professionals including Comstock and Tri-County Public Health Executive Director Dr. John Douglas Jr say the best way to reduce the number of cases is for people to be vaccinated.

“Although we think a resumption wearing masks in schools and public indoor settings can be a useful measure to stem increases in transmission, it’s quite clear that getting vaccinated as soon as possible is the best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” Douglas said in the release. “We are in a race against time to get more people vaccinated before Delta spreads even further or new even more contagious variants emerge.”

As of Saturday, 62% of all eligible Coloradans are vaccinated, according to the state health department.