The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released new guidelines and safety measures for areas with healthy people and low COVID cases in hospitals. This means that most Americans who live in places that qualify in the criteria mentioned earlier can safely take a break from wearing their masks.
The CDC's risk map studied what happened to American hospitals in various states. In counties where coronavirus poses a low to medium threat only to hospitals, people may opt to remove their masks, particularly when it comes to indoor spaces.
Mask in areas with high COVID-19 threats
However, the CDC still recommends that people and schoolchildren wear masks in areas where the COVID-19 threat is still high. According to the Associated Press, this situation exists in around 37 percent of U.S. counties where about 28 percent of Americans live.
However, some adults and parents are still wary about the new guidelines. For example, Grace Thomas, who is fully vaccinated, still wants to continue wearing her mask since she runs a home daycare center in Chicago. She plans to request the parents of her home daycare to let the kids continue wearing theirs to prevent the center from being a possible transmission source for the virus. However, she knows that she cannot compel them to wear masks if they do not want to.
The clamor to end face masking
Across the United States, many people have been clamoring to end masking while others are careful as the pandemic may cause something yet unexpected. Numerous states, counties, cities, and school districts seriously consider stopping mask-wearing because many Americans have since ignored the mandates.
Chicago, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced that the statewide mandate for mask-wearing will already be lifted following the new CDC measures. However, the Chicago Public School officials have expressed that they will still require mask-wearing as a safety health measure.
Some establishments have allowed for mask removal indoors for vaccinated individuals in other parts of the country, while states like Washington and Oregon are already planning to lift mask mandates in the latter part of March.
Wary about removing masks
Although many groups welcome the new CDC recommendations, some individuals and groups are still particular about mask-wearing, especially when surrounded by strangers. It may be safe to remove masks around vaccinated individuals. However, many are still susceptible to getting sick, especially since not everyone can get jabbed. American Medical Association President Gerald E. Harmon said that he would continue wearing masks and urged Americans to do the same.
The new recommendations from CDC are not entirely binding, which means it will still be up to cities and institutions to set their policies, especially when it comes to indoor spaces. The new guidelines also do not change the rules for public transportation and public areas such as airports and bus and train stations. The agency has also advised people that wearing masks indoors should still be observed in counties where virus spread is still high.
