Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Rochelle Walensky, has said that as the cases of COVID-19 are still high across the country, this is not the time to lift mask mandates in schools and other public places.

Her comments came after officials in New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, California and Oregon announced that they plan to lift indoor mask mandates for K-12 public schools and other indoor places over the coming weeks. Walensky said that the CDC guidance remains the same and they continue to endorse universal masking in schools. The agency still recommends masking in areas with high and considerable transmission, which means basically everywhere in the country in public indoor settings… (Reuters, February 9, 2022)