The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has scaled back its mask recommendations nationwide as the spread of COVID’s omicron variant has slowed.
CDC leaders announced a tiered system Friday in which counties will be rated low, medium or high risk based on the spread of COVID in the area. Indoor mask wearing is only recommended in communities at high risk.
According to CDC data, more than 70% of the U.S. population lives in low and medium risk areas as of Friday, meaning a majority of Americans can now go maskless with the CDC’s backing.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said the guidance would be updated weekly and shared on the CDC’s website.
Beginning in July 2021, the CDC had recommended constant indoor mask wearing across the country. Of course, the CDC’s suggestions are not laws, and many state and local governments ignored that advice. Meanwhile, more mask-friendly areas, such as New York and the San Francisco Bay Area, may keep mask requirements in place despite the new guidance.
But now, even the nation’s leading medical authority is rolling things back. The new CDC metrics for determining risk levels are focused more on hospitalizations and hospital capacity than on case counts and test positivity rate, according to Walensky.
“We know that there is going to be transmission of COVID-19 out there, and what we want to do is make sure our hospitals are OK,” she told reporters Friday.
Walensky said the goal of the tiered system is to relax restrictions when and where COVID is less common, but maintain the flexibility to respond if another dangerous variant emerges.
After omicron sent COVID cases skyrocketing to previously unimaginable levels in January, daily case numbers and corresponding hospitalizations have dropped in February to pre-omicron levels.
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