As delta variant rises, DoD requires new mask rules. How does it affect Fort Benning?
Fort Benning service members, employees and visitors will be required to wear a mask indoors, regardless of vaccination status, beginning Friday.
Masks will also be required when people are unable to maintain six feet of social distance outdoors, according to an announcement on Fort Benning’s Facebook page.
The Army post will require face masks at all times at open graduations and Turning Blue ceremonies, according to the announcement. There will be extra face masks on hand for guests who may need one, and no graduation or ceremony will be at more than 60% capacity, according to the announcement.
The requirement applies to all Department of Defense installations and other facilities owned, leased or otherwise controlled by the federal agency in areas of “substantial or high community transmission.”
The CDC considers transmission substantial when 50-99.99 cases per 100,000 are reported or 8-9.9% of coronavirus tests come back positive in the last seven days. High transmission occurs when case rates reach 100 per 100,000 or when positive rates reach 10% in the last seven days.
New COVID-19 cases in Georgia and across the United States have spiked due to the emergence of the delta variant, a more contagious version of the disease.
As of July 29, Chattahoochee County reported a total of 106 cases over the last two weeks. The 14-day case rate is 986 per 100,000 people. However, the county’s case rate is artificially high.
Residents and soldiers in training who test positive for the novel coronavirus are counted among Chattahoochee County’s totals. But recruits and others who arrive at Benning aren’t included in the county’s overall population estimates.
Staff writer Brittany McGee contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct the number of cases Chattahoochee County reported in the last two weeks as of July 29.
This story was originally published July 30, 2021 at 4:51 PM.