The time has come to end local mask mandates, including in schools, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Thursday.
Most North Carolina school districts, and some cities and counties, imposed indoor face mask rules last year. Successive waves of COVID-19 sickened tens of thousands and filled hospitals, but the latest spike in cases has been waning in recent weeks.
"This variant is clearly much more contagious, yet generally causes less severe illness, particularly to people who are vaccinated and boosted. And now people know how to gauge their level of risk and decide how best to protect themselves," the governor said.
Department of Health and Human Services Sec. Kody Kinsley said school guidance will be updated to encourage dropping mask mandates on March 7. The guidance also applies to pre-schools and day care centers.
"Right now universal masking is not the strategy, vaccination is the strategy," Kinsley said. That date would give people time to get vaccinated.
Last summer the governor dropped the statewide mask mandate, leaving mask rules up to local governments and school boards. It will still be up to local boards of education and other elected officials to decide on their own mask mandates.
Mecklenburg County this week voted to drop its indoor mask mandate starting Feb. 26. Several local school districts have also voted to end mask rules in recent weeks.
The governor’s announcement came the same day the state legislature scheduled votes on a bill that would make it illegal for local school boards to require masks in the classroom.
The North Carolina House passed the bill minutes before the governor made his announcement Thursday. The state Senate passed the Free the Smiles bill shortly after Cooper made his announcement.
Cooper said he has not read the legislation and would consider it, but did have some concerns based on what he's read about the Free the Smiles Act so far.
"We ended North Carolina’s statewide mask mandate last spring and have relied on local school boards, local governments and local public health officials to make good decisions," Cooper said.
"I'm grateful for local officials who have done amazing work to protect children and save lives in difficult circumstances. The omicron variant of this virus overran the nation quickly. Now, just as fast as the numbers peaked, they are falling," he said.
The coronavirus numbers in North Carolina have been dropping steadily. The average for new COVID-19 cases was almost 30,000 a day less than a month ago, but is now down below 6,000, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
The number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus peaked at more than 5,200 on Jan. 26, DHHS data shows. As of Thursday, that number is down to about 2,700.
In North Carolina, more than 70% of adults have gotten either two shots of one of the two-dose vaccines or the Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccine, according to DHHS. More than half of adults in the state have gotten a booster or additional dose.