Will masks be coming back in Yuma County?

Rise in cases has one local city taking a step back - CBS 13's April Hettinger reports

SAN LUIS, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Arizona was one of the first states to ditch masks, but will the Delta variant force masks to make a comeback in Yuma County?

San Luis took the first step in that direction on Monday when Mayor Gerardo Sanchez signed a proclamation reinstating the city's mask mandate. It will be reassessed when the Delta variant is no longer a threat.

Yuma Regional Medical Center (YRMC) has never done away with masks. It doesn't expect things to change anytime soon.

"To whatever the level of this peak goes, it will be another 3 to 4 weeks that will be our peak of delta because we are still very fortunate to have 47-48% vaccination rate in our community," said Dr. Bharat Magu, YRMC's Chief Medical Officer.

The hospital uses random samples to testing for the strain of the virus.

"Majority of them are now Delta variant, whoever we test. So, I think we can generalize that what we are seeing is mostly the delta," Dr. Magu explained. "You know, I think last time we had a random sampling of five, three of them were Delta."

YRMC says almost all of the coronavirus-related hospitalizations include the unvaccinated.

Although mask policies are important, Dr. Magu says there's something else people need to do to protect themselves, and the public, from the virus.

"Masking is important, but not as important as vaccinations," Dr. Magu stated. "I think I would say if... ideally, we should be doing both."

Yuma County says it doesn't expect to bring back the mask mandate, but if cases continue to increase, it could revisit that decision.