Brendan O’Brien and Julia Harte

NEW YORK (Reuters), The governors from New York State and Massachusetts said Wednesday they would eliminate certain mask mandates within their respective states. This joins a growing group of state leaders who plan to loosen face-covering laws as COVID-19 eases.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that her state will no longer require people to use masks or show proof they have received the COVID-19 vaccination when entering indoor public spaces. This was due to an increase in COVID hospitalizations and cases.

Hochul said, a Democrat at a press conference, “This is what has been waiting for. Spectacular progress after two long decades.” Although we’re far from done, the trend is in a very positive direction.

New York City is the most populous US city. For the moment, it will be mandatory that all persons show proof of immunization to gain entry into restaurants, bars, theatres, and other indoor spaces.

Massachusetts’s Governor Charlie Baker announced Wednesday that students, teachers, and staff won’t be allowed to wear masks at schools starting February 28.

Baker, who is a Republican said Massachusetts had “far greater tools available for us to address the pandemic” noting that Massachusetts children will likely be uninfected by COVID-19, and that Massachusetts also has the nation’s highest rate of child vaccines.

New York’s state officials will determine whether to retain the state’s mandate for school masks in March. This decision is made after midwinter break, when students have returned from their winter break. Hochul stated that the decision will be based on case numbers and positive rates, as well as other factors.

Hochul says that the mask mandates in state-regulated correctional facilities and healthcare will not be repealed.

Baker stated that Massachusetts school districts would retain the ability to set masking regulations and the education department of the state would provide guidance in specific situations. Baker indicated that mask-wearing students may continue wearing them.

Baker declared, “It’s now that our kids have a sense if normalcy,” COVID will, just like other diseases of the respiratory system, be around us indefinitely.

Boston Public Schools, the state’s largest district, said it was still deciding how to respond to Baker’s move to relax mask rules. Jonathan Palumbo spoke on behalf of the district.

New York City and Massachusetts were added to the growing number of states who have relaxed masking regulations with Wednesday’s announcements. Officials in Democratic-led New Jersey and California, Connecticut and Delaware announced earlier this week that they would be lifting the masking rules for public schools in the next few weeks.

It’s not the moment

All of those cases were attributed to the declining Omicron-fueled wave COVID-19-related infections and hospitalizations which started to sweep the United States in the holiday season 2021.

However, Dr. Rochelle Walensky from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday to Reuters that while there are still many cases in America, it is “not the time” for schools and public buildings to remove masking mandates.

Walensky stated Wednesday that the seven-day COVID-19 average dropped by 44% to 247.300 COVID-19 daily cases, compared with last week. In the last week, average hospital admissions fell 25% to around 13,000 per hour. Average deaths dropped by 3% to 2,400 daily.

Politicians are prone to relax masking rules and move toward treating pandemic-weary people as part of daily life, rather than putting them on an emergency footing.

Some of the states pushing for mask mandates face legal challenges as well as public protests.

A judge in Illinois ruled Friday that Governor J.B. Pritzker lacked the power to make an executive order statewide regarding school mask mandates. He halted the proceeding.

Many Illinois schools, including Chicago Public Schools which is the third-largest system in America, continue to require masks.

A number of parents protested Tuesday outside Algonquin school in Algonquin (a suburb northwest of Chicago) against their district’s continuing to require them to wear masks.

Suzette Kallhoff, parent of Suzette Kallhoff said that she was standing up for her children. “Everybody’s been able to get vaccinated. However, the masks aren’t making a difference with the cases. There have been studies and it is clear that the vaccines won’t work.

Many studies have demonstrated that infection transmission can be slowed by proper masking.

New York’s state judge revoked Hochul’s mask mandate last month. She ruled she was in excess of her authority.

An appeals court judge, however, stayed the decision for the day. The case continued under judicial review.