The governors of four states announced plans on Monday to lift statewide mask mandates in schools by the end of February or March as COVID-19 cases have been declining.
Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Oregon all decided to announce these plans as governments and schools are trying to figure out how to coexist with COVID-19.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said that the state's change will go into effect on March 7. He said that local school districts and private child care providers can still require masks after that date if they want.
"We are not — and I’ve said this many times — going to manage COVID to zero," Murphy said. "We have to learn how to live with COVID as we move from a pandemic to an endemic phase of this virus."
New Jersey's COVID-19 cases have dropped drastically, as there was 32,700 new cases on Jan. 8 and now only 1,139 new cases on Feb. 7.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said that the state's mask mandate for schools and child care centers will end on Feb. 28.
While Delaware Gov. John Carney said the statewide school mask mandate will run through March, but it's indoor universal indoor mask mandate will be lifted on Friday.
COVID-19 cases in Connecticut peaked on Jan. 10 with 31,405 new cases, but has now dropped down to only 2,138 new cases on Feb. 7. Delaware's peak in cases was around the same time, but only reached 4,493 on Jan. 13, but has dropped to just 275 new cases on Feb. 7.
Oregon's mask mandate for school will end on March 31, and health officials added that the statewide mask mandate for indoor public spaces will not go past March.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki spoke on Monday about mask mandates in schools, saying that having the requirement "still remains our recommendation."
"It’s always been up to school districts. That’s always been our point of view and always been our policy from here," Psaki said.
New Jersey Education Association, the state’s biggest teachers union, said in a statement that they support mask mandates, but are aware of the current trends in cases.
"It is appropriate for Gov. Murphy to allow local districts to continue to require masking in communities where that is prudent based on local conditions," the union said.
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