Nine states outlined plans this week to roll back requirements that people wear masks at indoor venues—including businesses and, in some cases, schools—as Covid-19 case numbers decline and pressure to return to normal life rises.
Officials in New York, Illinois, Massachusetts and Rhode Island said Wednesday that rules requiring masks or proof of vaccinations intended to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic would end by March. Earlier in the week, California, Oregon, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware officials made public similar rollbacks.
All of those states voted for President Biden in the 2020 election and are now not following recommendations from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after previously hewing to guidance to continue requiring face covering indoors and in schools.
“The Covid clouds are parting,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said after announcing requirements to wear masks in restaurants and offices would lapse on Thursday.
Federal public-health officials said Wednesday that they are considering changes, but continue to recommend mask-wearing in public indoor settings in much of the country.
