The CDC is expected to loosen its guidance on indoor masking as early as next week as COVID cases and hospitalizations continue to drop nationwide.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it will soon be updating its guidance on indoor mask-wearing for Americans.
The change can come early as next week or the first week of March, the same time many Democratic governors are planning to lift statewide ordinances.
In a press briefing Wednesday, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said the agency was looking at new metrics for relaxing pandemic guidance, including masks, and would deliver that updated guidance “soon.”
“We want to give people a break from things like mask-wearing when these metrics are better, and then have the ability to reach for them again should things worsen,” Walensky told reporters.
The upcoming guidance comes as an increasing number of Democratic governors have already announced plans to lift mask mandates at the end of February or in March. Those decisions have largely been seen as a political calculation, driven by pandemic fatigue among voters.
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