New Jersey, Delaware Lifting School Mask Mandates

Topline

Democratic governors in Delaware and New Jersey plan to lift their states’ school mask mandates starting in March—potentially signaling the end of statewide school mask mandates as Covid-19 cases decline, as other leaders suggest they could follow suit.

President Joe Biden talks to students at East End Elementary School in North Plainfield, New Jersey … [+] on October 25, 2021.

AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy will announce Monday afternoon that school districts will no longer need to require masks starting the second week of March, the New York Times was first to report.

New Jersey reimposed its school mask mandate in August and extended it in January, and the state has historically had one of the nation’s most cautious mask policies, being one of the last states to lift its statewide mask order in May.

Delaware Gov. John Carney said Monday the state’s school mask mandate will lift March 31, while its general statewide indoor masks order will end on February 11.

Other governors may follow: Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) said Thursday he will decide in the coming days whether to lift the state’s school mask mandate, noting Connecticut is in “a very different situation than what we faced a couple of years ago.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said Friday the state will soon be making “some announcements” about the fate of the state’s Covid-19 restrictions—including its school mask mandate, which is set to expire February 21—but pushed for more children to get vaccinated to help ensure masks can come off.

California’s mask mandate is set to expire February 15, and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has suggested the state will move to an “endemic plan” to “live with” the coronavirus, which could include lifting its school mask mandate.

Crucial Quote

Lifting New Jersey’s school mask mandate is a “huge step toward normalcy,” Murphy told the Times.

Big Number

13. That’s the number of states that still have school mask orders in place, according to a tracker compiled by the National Academy for State Health Policy, along with Washington, D.C. Local policies are more widespread, with data company Burbio reporting 60.4% of the 500 largest school districts in the U.S. require masks as of Monday.

Tangent

Illinois’ school mask mandate was temporarily blocked in court on Friday, along with other requirements for Covid-19 vaccines and testing. The state is appealing the ruling. Virginia’s ban on mask mandates, meanwhile, was also blocked in court on Friday, after a number of school districts bucked the state by requiring masks anyway.

Contra

Oregon doubled down on its school mask mandate in late January and made its mask order a permanent rule that will have to be repealed, rather than a temporary one that could expire. The state will lift its order “as soon as it is safe to do so,” the Oregon Department of Education said, but noted, “The virus sets the timeline.”

Key Background

School mask mandates have been among the most divisive issues of the Covid-19 pandemic, even as evidence shows they’re effective at reducing Covid-19 transmission. Many states reimposed or extended school mask mandates in light of the omicron variant’s surge, but as cases subside, more experts have been calling for or predicting that school mask mandates should be dropped accordingly. More than 1,000 medical and health professionals signed a statement calling for policymakers to “return normalcy to our kids,” and former Food and Drug Administration chief Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CBS News Sunday he believed more governors would soon start lifting mask mandates, “and we’re now at a point where we can safely contemplate that.” “When prevalence is low…we can start to lean forward and take a little bit more risk and try to at least make sure that students in schools have some semblance of normalcy for this spring term,” Gottlieb said.

New Jersey, Delaware Lifting School Mask Mandates—Other States May Be Next