by JOCELYN GECKER AND ADAM BEAM
Screenshot from TVW from Governor Jay Inslee’s Feb. 28 press conference.
Sacramento, Calif. (AP) — Schoolchildren in California, Oregon and Washington will no longer be required to wear masks as part of a new indoor mask policy jointly announced by Democratic governors of all three states on Feb. 28.
“California, Oregon, and Washington are working together to update their mask guidelines as case rates and hospitalizations decline in the West,” the governors said in a statement. The three states have more than 7.5 million school-age children, and these three states have more than 7.5 million school-age children. States have implemented some of the strictest coronavirus safety measures during the pandemic.
The new guidelines will strongly recommend wearing face coverings, rather than a requirement starting March 1 at most indoor locations in California and at schools starting March 12, regardless of vaccination status. In Washington and Oregon, all requirements will be lifted on March 12. In all three states, the decision to follow state guidance will now be made by school districts.
The West Coast announcement comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed federal mask guidelines on Feb. 25, essentially saying that most Americans don’t need to wear masks in many indoor public spaces, including schools. Federal mask regulations still apply to high-risk indoor environments such as public transportation, airports and taxis.
The new CDC guidelines are based on measures that focus more on what’s happening in hospitals than on test results. More than 70 percent of Americans live in places where the coronavirus poses a low or moderate threat to hospitals, the CDC said, so masks can be discontinued in most indoor settings.
Since July, the CDC has approved universal mask wearing in schools regardless of virus levels in the community, but now it only recommends masks in high-risk counties.
According to this criterion, 16 of Oregon’s 36 counties have a “high” level of transmission. Oregon epidemiologist Dr. Dean Sidlinger said he hopes community leaders will use the CDC framework to “guide their decisions about wearing masks.”
Several counties in California and Washington are also still classified as high-risk, but the number of cases and hospitalizations is expected to continue to decline in the coming weeks, officials said.
“We are turning a new leaf in our fight against the COVID virus,” Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee said at a Feb. 28 news conference.
Inslee said in a separate statement that he expects many businesses and households to continue to choose to wear masks. “As we transition to the next phase, we will continue to move forward carefully and together,” he said.
