As new-case rates fall in states, they drop mask mandates

Stateline chart; for a larger version, click on it.

"As Omicron fades and scientists consider when to declare Covid-19 endemic—and, therefore, here to stay—in the United States, governors in 10 states last week leapfrogged federal recommendations and dropped mask mandates," Christine Vestal reports for Stateline.

"Governors and health officials in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Rhode Island broke ranks and announced an end date for masking requirements in indoor public spaces such as grocery stores and restaurants and, in some cases, schools," breaking from federal guidance amid plummeting rates of new cases, Vestal reports. "Cities, counties and school districts are free to maintain their own restrictions and requirements in those states."

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "is probably only a month or two away" from declaring SARS-CoV-2 "an endemic virus like a cold or flu that can’t be eradicated but is no longer a serious threat to most people, scientists and public health officials predict," Vestal reports. "Even so, the CDC has asked states to maintain Covid-19 restrictions until slammed hospitals can get back on their feet and declining transmission rates reach a low level and stay there for a few weeks.

Some states where new-case rates remain high are sticking with their masking recommendations. In Kentucky, which has the nation's fifth highest rate, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday that he expects to ease his recommendations in about a month, Melissa Patrick reports for Kentucky Health News. Beshear lacks the power to issue mask mandates, except in his branch of state government, after the Republican-controlled legislature took that authority away from him in September.