The latest federal COVID-19 mask wearing recommendation should be followed and expanded, but it isn't likely to convince many county residents to wear masks unless Pennsylvania reinstates a mask wearing mandate, said a Butler Health System official.

Masking and vaccinations are more important than ever because the surging delta variant is the most contagious of the COVID-19 strains, and it could be transmitted by vaccinated people, said Dr. John Love, medical director of infectious diseases at BHS.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its masking guidelines, recommending that even vaccinated people should return to wearing masks indoors in parts of the country where transmission rates are classified as substantial or high. Many Southern, Midwestern and Western states fall into those categories.

Pennsylvania is classified as having a moderate transmission rate by the CDC, and Gov. Tom Wolf lifted the state mask wearing order on June 28.

Love said he believes the CDC's previous guidance that fully vaccinated people don't have to wear masks was intended to motivate people to get vaccinated, and the latest guidance isn't likely to sway people.

"With the expiration of Gov. Wolf's mask mandate, it didn't matter what the CDC said," Love said.

The map on the CDC's website that colors each state according to its transmission classification lags a week behind COVID-19 case reports submitted by the states, he said. If Pennsylvania climbs into the substantial or high classification it would be reflected on the map a week after the fact, he said.

"We should mask in low and moderate regions like outs to keep us in low and moderate regions like ours to keep us in low and moderate ranges, so we don't get to high and substantial transmission rates, which lead to more hospitalizations, cases and deaths," Love said. "I would recommend, regardless of vaccination status, people should be wearing masks in indoor public settings."

COVID-19 cases are increasing locally and statewide by smaller increments than other parts of the country, but Pennsylvania could catch up to those states, he said.

In December 2020 and January and February this year, Butler Memorial Hospital was loaded with COVID-19 patients and many other variants spreading across the country, masking and vaccinations are needed now more than ever, he said.

"we stopped masking and our vaccination numbers are mediocre. It doesn't take high level calculus to see why we're headed into some problems," Love said.

The CDC reports that vaccinated people can transmit the Delta variant.

The hospital can detect COVID-19, but can't determine which strain patients have. When the state department of health requests information about a case the hospital sends the nasal swab taken from the patient for testing, but the department doesn't provide the result to the hospital, he said.

Laboratories sequence the genome of the virus in the sample to determine the strain, but there's no commercial tests to determine the strain, he added.

"We can detect COVID, but we can't distinguish variants, but that doesn't change anything in treatment or precautions," Love said.

The Pfizer and Moderna two-dose vaccines are 88 percent effective against other strains and variants, he said. One dose of the two-dose vaccine provides fair protection against the other strains and variants, but not against the delta, he said.

"I don't want more families losing loved ones to this," Love said. "We will get cases no matter what, but we should try to minimize it. We're pleading people to do everything in their power, so they don't become one of these statistics. I'm worried about people. People who refuse or make up excuses... I don't know how to convince them to get vaccinated."

State campaign

The state department of health announced Thursday that it will carry out a text message campaign Thursday to encourage roughly 254,000 in the state to follow through with their second shot of the vaccine they never received.

The campaign will begin early next week as resurgent coronavirus and delta variant is skyrocketing.

The message will tell the reader that the "delta variant is here," and encourage them to check vaccines.gov to find a provider nearby. Those receiving the text would have got their first shot between Dec. 14 and May 14. In Washington, President Joe Biden is announcing new requirements for federal workers and some contractors who don't attest to being fully vaccinated. He is set to declare that unvaccinated federal workers will be sujext to universal masking, getting tested weekly or twice weekly, physical distancing and official travel restrictions.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.