Most of Mass. can safely lose the masks, according to new CDC guidance

BOSTON — The majority of Americans can safely lose the masks for now, according to new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC released a color-coded map – in green, yellow and orange – identifying low, medium and high risk, respectively, for COVID-19 across the nation’s counties.

About 70 percent of Americans live in a county where they do not need to wear masks if they are healthy, the agency said.

Every county in Massachusetts is considered low or medium risk.

People in green, or low-risk, counties do not need to wear masks, but should get vaccinated and be tested if symptomatic, the agency said. The same advice applies to those in yellow, or medium-risk, counties, but people at risk for severe illness should talk to their doctors about whether they should wear a mask and take other precautions. In orange counties, the CDC recommends everyone wear a mask indoors in public places.

The guidelines – intended to help cities and towns, community leaders and individuals made masking decisions – are based on new metrics in each community, including numbers of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the percent of hospital beds taken by COVID patients and the rate of new community cases. The new method is a departure from the previous focus on case numbers.

Doctors urge mask-wearing for those who are immunocompromised, people who are returning from quarantine after having COVID-19 and those who have been exposed.

Tufts Medical Center epidemiologist Dr. Shira Doron told Boston 25 News Friday she agrees with the CDC’s guidance.

“Right now, it’s safe to do this,” Doron said. “We need to give people a break, and we may need to reach for these strategies again in the future when some of these indicators go back up or in the wrong direction, which is quite possible.”

In Boston, where a city-wide indoor mask mandate remains, a spokesperson told Boston 25 News, “the Boston Public Health Commission is reviewing the CDC’s revised recommendations and the Board of Health will be meeting on Tuesday, March 1 to discuss Boston’s masking policies.”

The announcement from federal public health officials follows high levels of immunity across the country, due to both vaccination and infection, Doron said.

The CDC’s guidance includes not only businesses and workplaces but also schools.

Doron hopes local districts that haven’t dropped their mask requirements even after the statewide school mandate ends next week will reconsider.

“I think this will give them the permission in some way to take that step that I know many are fearful of doing,” Doron said. “Why would you have stricter rules for the schools than anywhere else?”

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