Covid Cases Are Rising — But Cities So Far Aren’t Reimposing Mask Mandates

Topline

Rising Covid-19 cases across the country so far aren’t resulting in local mask mandates coming back, as officials in multiple Democratic-leaning cities said in recent days they have no plans to bring back Covid-19 restrictions even as they recommend people voluntarily mask up.

A man wears a mask as he rides a city bike on April 28 in New York City.

AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Monday the city is “not at the point of mandating masks” or other restrictions like requiring proof of vaccination, noting that hospitals are not overwhelmed even as the city approaches a “high” Covid-19 alert level.

The city did issue a health advisory encouraging people to voluntarily wear masks in indoor settings.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu similarly said Monday the city so far wouldn’t change its protocols to require masks, but still recommends people wear them.

Nearby city Worcester, Massachusetts, imposed a mask advisory on Friday, but that also only encourages people to wear masks and doesn’t require them.

Twelve health officials in California’s Bay Area, including San Francisco, issued a joint statement on Friday with their “continued, strong support for people to mask up indoors” and follow other mitigation measures like testing and getting vaccinated, but did not impose any new mandates.

For those who haven’t been wearing masks recently, “now is a good time to start again,” Dr. George Han, Deputy Health Officer for the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department, said in a statement.

Crucial Quote

“I think we’re recognizing that there’s something in between a mandate and a world where nobody is covering their faces,” Marin County, California, Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis told SFGATE about Bay Area officials’ decision not to mandate masks. “Our hope is we can achieve a middle ground where people can recognize the value of face coverings.”

What To Watch For

None of the officials have ruled out the possibility they could mandate masks in the future, particularly if hospitalizations and deaths rise. “If there comes a time that our hospitals are in a state of emergency, or we’re trending that way, and my doctors that run the hospitals tell me this is what we need to do, I’m going to listen to them,” Adams said Monday about potentially reimposing restrictions.

Contra

Some school districts have started reimposing mask mandates in recent weeks—even if their broader communities haven’t—including schools in New Jersey, Maine, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Hawaii.

Big Number

90,337. That’s the seven-day average of new Covid-19 cases in the U.S. as of Monday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up from approximately 36,000 in mid-April.

Key Background

Mask mandates have been a continued source of controversy throughout the pandemic—even as studies have repeatedly found they’re effective at curbing Covid-19 transmission—and every remaining state with a mask mandate abandoned it earlier this year as cases subsided following the winter’s omicron variant surge. The CDC changed its guidance around mask wearing in February to be based more on levels of severe illness, rather than community transmission, making the threshold much lower for when people are free to take their masks off. Mask mandates on airplanes and other public transportation were also largely dropped last month after a federal judge overturned the CDC’s federal mask mandate, causing airlines and other travel companies to immediately drop their mask requirements. Philadelphia was the sole major city to reimpose a mask mandate in April as Covid-19 cases started rising again—but the city then abandoned the order just three days later amid a public outcry against it.