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Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Oregon all announced announced plans to drop school mask mandates on Monday (February 8) and will instead shift mask decisions to individual districts moving forward, the Washington Post reports.
Governor Ned Lamont said he intends to remove Connecticut's school mask mandate at the end of February; New Jersey plans to drop its mandate on March 7; Oregon will discontinue requiring masks to be worn in all indoor public places no later than March 31 and Delaware has set the same deadline for its school mask requirement.
The decisions all come as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to recommend protective face coverings be worn indoors, including at schools, and advises a minimum of three-foot physical distancing, regardless of whether an individual is vaccinated.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden's administration will continue to support the CDC's guidance for masks to be worn in schools, but will "continually" assess scientific data in response to the states' decision to drop mask mandates.
The CDC's latest data reports a total of 76,415,622 positive COVID-19 cases were reported in the U.S. during the last 30 days, as well as 899,756 deaths in relation to the coronavirus during that span.