Time to face it: The masks can start coming off

CDC believes pandemic in potentially less dangerous stage; more treatments, tests available

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased mask recommendations for the vast majority of the country Friday under a new framework to monitor coronavirus that immediately affects about 70% of Americans — a process that state and local officials had already begun amid demands for a return to normalcy.

The new guidelines, which took effect Friday, reflect the administration’s view that the United States has entered a different, potentially less dangerous phase of the pandemic and follow the lead of Democratic governors responding to declining case counts as well as public pressure. Top health officials said the shift reflects that after more than two years of living with the virus, many communities have greater protection against severe disease because of widespread vaccinations, treatments, better testing and higher-quality masks, among other improvements.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky stressed the new approach could be dialed up or down if an unpredictable virus should morph again.

“None of us knows what the future may hold for us and for this virus,” Walenksy said. “We need to be prepared and ready for whatever comes next. We want to give people a break from things like mask-wearing, when levels are low, and then have the ability to reach for them again, should things get worse in the future.”

The approach is expected to be less disruptive to daily life. It incorporates new metrics such as the number of new hospital admissions with COVID-19, and the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, as well as case counts, to assess levels of COVID-19 disease in every county. Instead of focusing on eliminating transmission of the virus, it is aimed at preventing hospitals and health-care systems from being overwhelmed and protecting people at high risk for severe illness, officials said.

Officials said the framework would also provide individuals with an understanding of what precautions they should consider based on the level of disease in their community, their underlying risk, and their own risk tolerance.”

Under the new approach, many parts of the country that were previously considered to have high or substantial levels of the virus are now reclassified as having low to medium levels of COVID-19 disease. CDC recommends mask-wearing for indoor public settings, including schools, only in communities with high levels of disease.