Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center.
New Jersey will soon no longer require students and school employees to wear masks.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Sunday that he would officially announce the update on Monday afternoon. The new policy will take effect during the second week of March, marking 2 years after New Jersey and New York became the epicenter of the initial COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S.
Murphy, a Democrat, has imposed some of the nation’s strictest pandemic-related mandates, The New York Times reported. His announcement about lifting the statewide school mask mandate has been seen as an intentional signal to shift toward treating COVID-19 as a part of daily life.
Last month, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced that local school officials could make decisions about masks. The governors of Connecticut and New York also said last week that they were reevaluating school mask mandates that are slated to expire this month, according to The Times.
As the Omicron variant wave subsides and new COVID-19 cases drop rapidly, governors are beginning to consider changes to pandemic-related protocols. Last week, after meeting with President Joe Biden during an annual governors’ conference, Murphy suggested it was time to reconsider how to manage the coronavirus, the newspaper reported.
“The overwhelming sentiment on both sides of the aisle is we want to get to a place where we can live with this thing in as normal a fashion as possible,” Murphy said.
New Jersey is among 11 states that have required masks. The state has required students, teachers, and staff to wear masks since September 2020.
New Jersey’s shift in policy is based on the drop in new cases and declining severity of the disease, Murphy’s aides told The Times. In an interview on Sunday, Murphy also said lifting the mask mandate in March was timed for warmer weather and better ventilation options.
“It isn’t July Fourth,” he said. “But it gets you into a marginally better weather period.”
School districts in New Jersey will still be able to require masks if they want or bring the requirement back if the virus surges again, the newspaper reported. Districts will likely face pressure at the local level to either get rid of mask mandates or keep the rules in place.
Edison Township Public Schools, which is one of New Jersey’s largest suburban districts, will likely drop the mask requirement but allow students to wear one if they choose.
“Some parents will welcome this option,” Bernard Bragen Jr., the district’s superintendent, told the newspaper. “But for other parents — their students may be wearing masks for years.”
SOURCE:
The New York Times: “N.J. Governor to End School Mask Mandate in Move to ‘Normalcy.'”
Source: Read Full Article