CDC eases mask recommendations for majority of U.S.

UNITED STATES – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Friday that more than 70% of Americans should be able to remove their masks while indoors, including inside schools.

The new metrics outlined on Friday show that more than half of U.S. counties, which make up about 75% of where Americans live, are now considered to be at “low” or “medium” risk because of a reduced number of new COVID hospitalizations and adequate hospital space. As a result, the CDC would no longer recommend that these communities insist on indoor masking.

While this new guidance drops the recommendation of masking in schools, the CDC says it is still reviewing a federal requirement that individuals wear masks on public transportation, including on planes. We’re told a decision on that will be made in the coming weeks.

These new recommendations are a major change in how the federal government is approaching pandemic guidance. Under previous rules, the CDC primarily considered COVID case counts to determine risk, and because case counts remained high, officials had stuck to the recommendation of indoor masking. However, that approach didn’t take into account that vaccinations are now widely available and that most vaccinated people who tested positive during the Omicron and Delta waves experienced mainly mild symptoms that did not require hospitalization.

The CDC says individuals at high-risk of complications from the virus should continue taking precautions, such as avoiding crowds and wearing a high-quality mask. But for local health officials and school boards, the CDC is recommending that communities consider three factors: new COVID hospitalizations, hospital capacity, and new COVID cases. Taken together, this will determine if an area is “high”, “medium”, or “low” risk. A community could then opt to ease mitigation measures based on the risk rating, such as removing indoor mask recommendations or surveillance testing. If a community returns to “high” risk, the CDC recommends putting mask requirements back in place and stepping up other precautions.