87 pct of Americans should wear mask indoors or consider it: U.S. CDC

NEW YORK, July 25 (Xinhua) -- More than 60 percent of people in the United States live in counties where they should be wearing a mask indoors in public spaces, U.S. News &World Report last week cited the COVID-19 community levels issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

An additional nearly 27 percent of the population lives in areas where they should consider masking if they are at high risk for severe COVID-19, according to the report.

Just 13 percent of the population, a number that has been shrinking as COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations increase, lives in an area where they do not need to consider masking while indoors, per CDC's recommendations.

"The U.S. is averaging more than 125,000 new coronavirus cases each day, which is certain to be an undercount as many rely on at-home tests that don't get reported to county health departments," said the report.

Hospitalizations are also increasing, with more than 6,100 people with COVID-19 admitted on average each day, while COVID-19 deaths have remained mostly stable over the past three months at around 350 on average each day, though experts say the number is too high, it added.