Across the country, states are once again beginning to loosen or do away with mask mandates in schools and indoor spaces as COVID-19 cases continue to drop from the Omicron surge.Connecticut, Oregon, and Delaware joined New Jersey yesterday in announcing plans to end their statewide school mask mandates in the coming weeks, the Associated Press reports.
Those states, run by Democratic governors who have taken a strict stance on COVID-19 restrictions, were among the last 12 states to have universal masking requirements in place for schools.In related news, California announced plans to end its indoor mask mandate for vaccinated people next week, but school mask mandates remain in place.School masking has been a political football since September of 2020, when many of the nation's schools resumed in-person learning after the initial wave of the pandemic.
Recent guidance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the usefulness of cloth masks complicates the issue, as does the widespread availability of vaccines for American children ages 5 and up.The United States reported 340,947 new COVID-19 cases yesterday and 2,908 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 tracker.The 7-day average of new daily cases is 253,782, with 2,598 deaths, according to the New York Times tracker.
That is the lowest 7-day average since early December, before the Omicron variant became the dominant strain in the United States.4.2 million pediatric cases in JanuaryAccording to the latest update from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), more than 630,000 pediatric COVID-19 cases were reported for the week ending on Feb 3, down from a pea on Jan 20 of 1.15 million."However, child cases this week remained extremely high,