The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) loosened its COVID-19 mask guidance on Friday to no longer recommend wearing masks in most indoor settings.
Some state and local governments have followed the CDC guidance when implementing mask mandates, and the change could lead to the end of the remaining mask mandates in many blue jurisdictions. The CDC has recommended wearing masks indoors regardless of vaccination status since last summer after briefly relaxing their recommendation in the spring of 2021.
The new CDC guidance divides communities into three categories; high, medium, and low-risk, based on COVID statistics such as hospitalizations. People in communities that are high risk are still advised to wear a mask indoors, but those determined to be in low or medium-risk areas are advised to get vaccinated and tested if they get sick.
In medium-risk communities, immuno-compromised individuals should follow their doctor’s advice on whether or not to wear a mask. Roughly 70% of American counties fall into the medium or low-risk groups, meaning those residents aren’t advised to mask.
Many states and cities still have vaccine or mask mandates in effect, but some Democrat-led governments began dropping their mandates in early February. At the federal level, the Biden administration has said that it will follow CDC guidelines.
Schools are one of the last and most difficult to enforce places that mask mandates remain in effect.
It is unclear when the Biden administration will drop federally determined mask mandates such as on airplanes or in federal buildings.
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