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The state lifted its general indoor mask order March 12, 2022, about three weeks after a mandate for masking at large outdoor events ended. A mask mandate for people age 5 and older in health care, long-term care and correctional facilities was lifted April 3, 2023.
Feb 9, 2022 · By Tim Stelloh. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul lifted a statewide mask mandate Wednesday amid a battle over the rule’s legality and as a surge in Covid-19 infections continues to recede. With...
Mar 10, 2021 · March 10, 2021, 11:36 AM PST / Updated April 10, 2021, 6:33 AM PDT. By Jiachuan Wu, Wen Si and Nigel Chiwaya. With Covid-19 cases rising again, has your state scrapped its mask order? Twelve...
Mar 1, 2022 · A statewide mask requirement for various indoor settings, including schools, was lifted on March 12. The state’s outdoor mask mandate expired on Feb. 18.
- Overview
- Not the end of the pandemic
- Where will I still need to wear a mask?
Most Americans are safe going without a mask in indoor settings, including in schools, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.
The highly anticipated change to the agency's mask guidance leans less heavily on the number of Covid-19 cases as a key measure, instead giving more weight to hospitalizations and local hospital capacity.
Full coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic
The new guidance puts more than half of the nation's counties at low or medium risk for Covid, meaning masks are no longer necessary there. Those counties account for roughly 70 percent of people in the country.
It's a dramatic shift from the previous guidance, which recommended masks in counties with substantial or high transmission, a category that covered the vast majority of the country.
The recommendations apply to everyone, not just those who are vaccinated or have received a booster shot.
Covid cases have fallen significantly in recent weeks, following record highs driven by the omicron variant. The United States is averaging about 75,000 cases per day, down 65 percent from two weeks prior, according to NBC News' tally.
But a relaxation of the mask guidance "doesn't mean that this is the end," said Bill Hanage, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
"The virus is still going to be here. It is still going to pose a risk to people, and it's probably going to get worse again in the fall and winter," he said.
One unknown is whether a new variant will pop up, perhaps one even more transmissible than omicron or more virulent than delta.
The omicron variant took over as the dominant strain within weeks of its discovery. A subtype of omicron, called BA.2, was detected in late January, sparking fears that the changes omicron went through might make it even more contagious. However, the prevalence of BA.2 has not risen dramatically so far, according to CDC data.
"We will have to remain alert globally to the possibility of a new variant occurring somewhere in the world coming here," Schaffner said. "But I think we can move into a new normal."
Despite the change, masks will still be required on interstate transportation systems, such as airplanes, buses and trains, and at airports, according to the Transportation Security Administration. That mask mandate is scheduled to expire March 18.
"The mask requirement remains in place and we will continue to assess the duration of the requirement in consultation with CDC," a TSA official said.
What's more, some places with particularly vulnerable people — hospitals and nursing homes, for example — may still require masks.
"Masks are going to remain a thing," Hanage said. "Some people are going to want to continue wearing masks because they are vulnerable, because they're immunocompromised or because they live with somebody who's immunocompromised."
"We want to avoid the impression that masks are no longer useful anywhere."
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Mar 3, 2023 · Oregon will lift mask mandate in early April for health care settings. By April Ehrlich (OPB) and Anna Griffin (OPB) March 3, 2023 8:53 a.m. Updated: March 3, 2023 2:39 p.m. The requirement...
Mar 1, 2022 · CNN — Even some of the most ardent supporters of Covid-19 precautions are ditching mask mandates as health officials release new guidelines and hospitalizations plummet. Across the country,...
