The CDC will be updating its masking guidance Friday afternoon, according to ABC News.
70% of Americans will be able to take their masks off indoors, including in schools, ABC reported.
Masks will still be required on public transit for the time being.
Biden’s federal mask mandate expires March 18.
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The CDC has created new metrics to determine when people should mask up.
The agency will move away from ‘case counts’ and concentrate on hospitalizations and hospital capacity in its new mask guidance.
ABC News reported:
Some 70% of Americans will be able to remove their masks indoors, including inside schools, under new guidance to be released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Friday, two sources familiar with the plans told ABC News.
Under the new metrics in the updated guidance, more than half of U.S. counties, which make up 70% of where Americans live, will be in areas of low or medium risk and no longer recommended to wear masks, said two sources briefed on the plans but not authorized to discuss them ahead of the official announcement.
A CDC requirement that people continue to wear masks on public transportation, however, will remain en force for now, according to one official.
The official said the new guidance will consider three factors: new COVID hospitalizations, current beds occupied by COVID patients and hospital capacity, and new COVID cases.
Schools will not be treated differently under the new guidance as other indoor spaces, according to two officials.
A CDC requirement that people continue to wear masks on public transportation, however, will remain en force for now, according to one official.