CDC eases indoor mask wearing guidelines

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its mask-wearing recommendations, a move that loosens its face-coverings guidance for most of the U.S. population. 

The agency now only recommends that individuals in high-risk areas wear a mask in indoor settings. About 70% of the U.S. population is currently in a low- or medium-risk county where masks are no longer recommended indoors.

The CDC has a COVID-19 Community Levels tool to help communities decide what prevention steps to take based on the latest data. The levels of low, medium, and high risk counties are determined by hospital beds used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area. These levels also inform the agency’s guidance on other topics, such as COVID-19 vaccines and testing.

The CDC’s new mask-wearing guidelines apply to its guidance for K-12 schools, meaning it no longer recommends masks as a COVID-19 prevention step for schools in low- or medium-risk counties. That’s a shift from the agency’s previous recommendation of universal indoor masking in educational settings.

Individuals are always welcome to wear a mask at any time if they feel safer doing so, according to the CDC. People with symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19 should continue to wear a mask.