Passengers check-in at JetBlue at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport on Thursday, May 26, 2022. (Susan Stocker / South Florida Sun Sentinel)

If you take the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you’ll be wearing a mask when you gather with friends this Memorial Day weekend.

But you also could go with the guidance of the state of Florida, which says masks have little to no value.

The Florida Department of Health hasn’t updated its guidance since February and isn’t planning to, spokesman Jeremy Redfern said.

So what do we do? In Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, COVID-19 is at a higher than 19% positivity rate, well above the 5% that health officials consider to be low. And COVID-related hospitalizations have increased to their highest levels in more than 10 weeks.

The CDC recommends that people in areas with high community positivity rates wear masks indoors in public places and lists additional precautions for high-risk people.

Masked and unmasked travelers walk through Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport on Thursday May 26, 2022. As all three South Florida counties have high COVID-19 community levels, the federal government's guidance on whether you should wear a mask indoors stands in contrast to Florida's. (Susan Stocker / South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Some doctors are urging their patients to follow the recommendations of the CDC.

“I tell my patients that in areas where there is a higher rate of COVID cases [signaling greater risk of transmission] to mask indoors and among crowds,” said Dr. Joanna Drowos, an associate professor at Florida Atlantic University’s medical school in Boca Raton. “The masking recommendation from the CDC, where they say, ‘Wear a mask when there is a lot of COVID in your community,’ applies to us.”

If there’s a conflict between the CDC and another entity, go with the CDC, said Dr. Carla McWilliams, chief of infectious diseases at Cleveland Clinic Weston.

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“Well-fitted face masks do prevent viral transmission,” McWilliams said. “This has been supported by past evidence with other respiratory viruses and has been a decades-long practice in hospitals. The key to preventing transmission by wearing a mask is that it must be worn correctly and ensure that it fits appropriately. If the mask does not cover the mouth and nose and does not fit well, it obviously will not work.”

She said to make sure you take into account your individual circumstances as you decide whether to cover up.

“A very compromised person with cancer probably shouldn’t be eating out in a crowded restaurant, going to an indoor event or going on a cruise when transmission in the community is high,” she said.

Florida’s Department of Health is aware that its masking recommendations are at odds with the advice of the CDC.

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“Unlike CDC guidance, this guidance does not rely on wearing facial coverings in a community setting,” according to the Health Department website. “There is not strong evidence that facial coverings reduce the transmission of respiratory viruses. Businesses are advised to no longer require facial coverings for employees, as there is no proven significant clinical benefit for facial coverings among the general population.”

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has insisted there is no evidence masks protect the public. In March, he held up a cloth mask during a news conference and said, “These things are not saving lives. They are not going to end the pandemic.”

The CDC’s list of protective gear includes masks made of cloth as long as they have several layers of fabric, have a nose wire and cover the wearer’s nose, mouth and chin without gaps. The list also includes other types, such as surgical masks and respirators. All must fit snugly over the face for maximal protection.

In many states, including Florida, mask-wearing comes with mask-shaming. Many wearers feel judged for trying to protect public health. The issue came to the fore in March, when Gov. Ron DeSantis asked high school students in Hillsborough County to remove their masks during his news conference, saying they were participating in “COVID theater.” It ignited a barrage of pro- and anti-mask comments on social media.

Mask-shaming has not intimidated Floridians who believe the coverings have shielded them as the pandemic has ebbed and intensified over the past two years. South Florida’s rebounded levels are even making some wonder whether it’s time for new mask mandates.

“I think masks should be required again on airplanes and other public transport,” Boca Raton resident Karen Zaslow said. “I still wear a mask when I go into a store or to the theater. I have noticed more people wearing masks lately in stores, though it’s usually only the older people like myself.”

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But others have had enough of covering up and are willing to take some risks.

“I wore my mask in the grocery store and shopping up until a few months ago,” said Marsha Fox, of Pompano Beach. “I am fully vaccinated and have had two booster shots. I did return to work at Costco, and I do not wear a mask.”

Many have shed the facial coverings and are saying good riddance. The CDC has changed its guidance too many times, said Bonnie Rowley, of Siesta Key.

“I’m happy to see life returning to somewhat of a norm,” Rowley said. “My husband and I eat out three to four times a week, inside, without masks. We both have had two vaccines and one booster, but that’s as far as we go. No fourth, fifth, 10th, etc. And like a lot of people, we’ve lost any faith in the CDC and are mistrusting of the FDA.”

Staff writer David Schutz contributed to this report.