93-3-3-WMR Audio on Demand presents the Preston and Steve show podcast.

And now, Preston and Steve's news update with Kathy Romano.

Today is Monday, August 16th. Good morning, Kathy.

Good morning. In the news this morning, a mask requirement in Montgomery County goes into effect today for staff and visitors and county buildings and facilities. In addition, Montgomery County Commissioners

in consultation with the Office of Public Health announced wearing a mask is now recommended

for the general public for all indoor spaces. The county made these announcements on Friday.

Montgomery County is now in the high transmission category per the CDC as the Delta variant drives COVID-19 cases back up.

Officials will be holding a press conference today to provide updates on mitigation efforts and discuss the latest masking recommendations for indoor public spaces.

Berks County also has new rules going to going into effect on Monday.

Masks are once again required for employees and visitors inside their county-owned

buildings regardless of vaccination status.

The county commissioners approved the mandate on Tuesday citing data that shows a sharp

increase in COVID-19 cases in Berks and surrounding counties.

Another 1,000 soldiers from the Army's 82nd Airborne have been ordered to head directly to Afghanistan's capital instead of Kuwait to assist in the evacuation of U.S. personnel in Afghans who assisted in U.S. missions, a U.S. official told ABC News.

That brings the total number of U.S. troops being sent back to Afghanistan to 6,000.

The increase of service members to Kabul follows General Frank McKenzie,

the commander of U.S. Central Command, meeting with representatives of the Taliban early Sunday

to inform them not to interfere with the U.S. mission at the airport, according to a U.S.

official. McKenzie also noted that the U.S. has the firepower to back up its defenses at the

airport in Kabul, where the U.S. embassy the firepower to back up its defenses at the airport in Kabul, where the U.S.

embassy was also relocated.

On ABC's this week, this week, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Sunday that relocating the embassy to the airport was to ensure that they can operate safely and securely, but still maintain a core diplomatic presence there.

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