Chicago's top doc pushes back on face mask guidance from WHO

CHICAGO - Chicago's top doctor is pushing back on guidance from the World Health Organization on wearing face masks.

The international public health agency urged vaccinated people last week to continue to wear masks and social distance as the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus gains traction around the world.

"Vaccine alone won’t stop community transmission," Dr. Mariangela Simao, WHO’s assistant director-general for access to medicines and health products, said during a briefing in Geneva, according to CNBC. "People need to continue to use masks consistently, be in ventilated spaces, hand hygiene ... the physical distance, avoid crowding. This still continues to be extremely important, even if you’re vaccinated when you have a community transmission ongoing."

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The recommendation comes weeks after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said vaccinated people can go most places without masks. However, federal mandates remain on airplanes, for example.

Dr. Allison Arwady said the WHO's guidance is more for places where the vaccine is not widely available.

PRITZKER WEARING MASKS INDOORS AGAINST AS CONCERNS OVER DELTA VARIANT GROW

She says even with the delta variant, Chicago has controlled the spread of the virus pretty well and does not expect it to cause any disruptions to reopening.

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Arwady says she expects the delta variant to be the most common form of the virus by the end of the summer.

Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday called the delta variant "the most transmissible of the variants identified so far … and is spreading rapidly among unvaccinated populations," the Voice of America reported.

FOX News contributed to this report.