From New York to Nevada, how US is bidding farewell to COVID-19 restrictions

Coronavirus restrictions are slowly being phased out of the United States of America.

With the Omicron wave of COVID-19 subsiding, several US states, including Nevada, New York and Illinois have ended mask mandates this week for indoor settings, while others lifted requirements at schools.

Here’s a look at what happened with mask rules this week.

States dropping mask mandates

On Wednesday, New York rolled back its mask mandates.

New York governor Kathy Hochul announced that she would not renew an indoor mask mandate for businesses when it expires on Thursday, citing a 96 per cent decline in reported infections since early January. Instead, it will be up to individual cities and businesses whether they want to require masks inside.

Hochul said the state was “trending in a very, very good direction.”

“That is why we are now approaching a new phase in this pandemic,” she told reporters.

She added, though, that face coverings in schools would remain mandatory until she reviews the situation next month.

The state of Nevada also announced that it would be ending its indoor mask mandate on Thursday.

Nevada governor Steve Sisolak said the requirement for masks in public places would be lifted “effective immediately."

State casino regulators quickly followed with an order eliminating the mandate for casinos “unless a local jurisdiction still imposes such a requirement.”

Illinois governor JB Pritzker also said masks will no longer be required in most indoor public places by 28 February, but kept the mandate in place for schools.

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Similarly, California’s indoor mask mandate for vaccinated residents is set to end on 15 February but unvaccinated people will still need to wear masks indoors.

Oregon will also lift mask requirements no later than 31 March while Delaware’s will expire on Friday, with masks in classrooms ending by 31 March.

Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker said his state’s mask mandate for schools would end on 28 February.

However, not everyone is following suit. The mayors of Minneapolis and St Paul, Minnesota, said they will soon end vaccine-or-test requirements instituted last month for restaurants, bars and other entertainment venues, but neither has talked about scrapping mask mandates.

Washington governor Jay Inslee said a mandate for large outdoor events will be lifted next but indoor requirements will remain for now: “I agree with CDC that today is not the day to totally eliminate masks, but it is a day that is rapidly approaching.”

COVID cases decreasing

The change in mask rules comes as the United States has been witnessing a drop in COVID-19-related hospitalisations and case counts.

The World Health Organization’s epidemiological report this week showed that the cases had fallen by 50 per cent in the United States and 17 per cent worldwide. Additionally, the COVID-19 hospitalisations had dropped nearly 30 per cent over the past three weeks.

More than 900,000 people have been killed by COVID-19 in the United States, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker.

The current seven-day daily average of cases is about 247,000, down from a daily peak of about 800,000 in early January, according to the CDC.

Officials and experts speak

Even as states modify their mask mandates, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention {CDC} has not changed its recommendation that people mask up in indoor public settings in areas where there is high transmission.

Meanwhile, Dr Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser for President Joe Biden, said that the United States is heading out of the ‘full-blown’ pandemic phase of COVID-19, in an interview with the Financial Times.

Fauci added that he “hoped there would be an end to all pandemic-related restrictions in the coming months, including mandatory wearing of masks.”

The renowned infectious disease expert said that the restrictions might end ‘soon,’ as a combination of the trajectory of the pandemic, vaccinations, treatments and prior infection would soon make the virus more manageable.

Back to old normal in other countries

Coronavirus guidelines are changing around the world; in fact, several European nations have recently eased or ended their COVID-19 restrictions.

British prime minister Boris Johnson recently said that laws requiring people in England with COVID-19 to self-isolate could be lifted by the end of the month, bringing an end to all domestic coronavirus restrictions.

Czech Republic prime minister Petr Fiala said Wednesday that in addition to ending the proof of vaccination requirement, his government will lift more coronavirus measures in February.

Similarly, Sweden ended all of the country’s restrictions on 9 February.

Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz also signalled that Europe’s biggest economy can soon ease tough curbs as the wave begins to ebb.

Spaniards and Italians too removed their facemasks or stuffed them into their pockets for the first time in nearly two months after the countries’ outdoor mask mandates were lifted.

With inputs from agencies

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