There are more states with full mask mandates now than there were in July

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• Seven states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico, now have full mask mandates, NBC News reported.
• That's six more states requiring both vaccinated and unvaccinated people to wear masks since July.
• An additional six states require masks for unvaccinated people.
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There are six more states that have full mask mandates, for the vaccinated and unvaccinated, than there were at the end of July, NBC News reported.

Seven states: Hawaii, Illinois, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Louisiana, and Washington, as well as Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico have full mask mandates.

Additionally, another six states - California, Connecticut, Colorado, Indiana, New York, and Vermont - require masks for those unvaccinated.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended masks be worn in areas with high COVID-19 transmission, regardless of vaccination status.

Cases and hospitalizations have been on the rise as the more transmissible Delta variant spreads. The New York Times reported that the US is averaging over 160,000 new cases a day. By comparison, Around Memorial Day, the US had a daily average of fewer than 25,000 cases.

However, while some states reenact mask mandates, some are fighting against localities that try to impose their own.

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis' issued an executive order banning school mask mandates. The state has withheld salaries for the board members of Alachua and Broward counties who defied the order and imposed mask mandates.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has previously said that states that bar schools from having mask mandates could face civil rights investigations.

Additionally, with estimates that another 100,000 Americans could die from COVID-19 by December 1, public health experts have said wearing masks could cut that number in half.

"We can save 50,000 lives simply by wearing masks. That's how important behaviors are," Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, told the Associated Press.

Experts have also stressed the need for more people to get vaccinated to help curb the spread of the virus and prevent another more transmissible or harmful variant.

So far, 53% of the population is fully vaccinated, according to data from the CDC.

If the tens of millions of Americans who haven't gotten their shot yet are vaccinated, Dr. Anthony Fauci said the US could have a handle on the pandemic by spring 2022.

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