Durham County will drop its indoor mask mandate on March 7. The change will also apply to the City of Durham.

Durham is one of the last remaining local governments in North Carolina to require masks indoors. As of Tuesday, Durham Public Schools still plans to require masks on school grounds.

“This continues to be a fluid situation,” Durham Public Health Director Rod Jenkins said. “We will continue to monitor the data on case counts after the mandate is dropped. Also, if a new variant arises, it may be possible that we’ll need to take more aggressive action, including reinstating the mask mandate.”

What You Need To Know

  • The Durham city and county mask mandate will end March 7. Durham Public Schools will still require masks

  • Raleigh and Wake County ended their indoor mask requirement Friday

  • The governor recently called on school boards and local governments to drop mask mandates

  • The CDC recently revised its mask guidelines, saying most Americans should not need to wear masks indoors

Raleigh and Wake County's mask mandates ended Friday. Neighboring Orange County still requires masks in public indoor spaces.

“It was important for the city and the county to continue to follow the science and rely on our experts to make the appropriate recommendation for the public’s safety,” said Durham Country Commission Chair Brenda Howerton. “We have listened and taken quality of life factors into consideration as we make reasonable efforts to move back to some sense of normalcy.”

In February, Gov. Roy Cooper called on local governments and school boards to drop mask rules starting March 7.

COVID-19 numbers are dropping, the governor said, and the focus should be on getting more people vaccinated.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week revised its guidelines to say most Americans should not have to wear masks indoors. The CDC said people in high risk counties should continue to wear masks.

As of Tuesday, most North Carolina counties, including Durham, are still considered high risk, according to the CDC.

Face masks have become a political flashpoint in North Carolina and around the country. Last summer the governor ended the statewide mask mandate and left it up to local governments and school boards to impose their own mask mandates.

Most schools opted to require masks during the coronavirus delta and omicron variant spikes, but a majority of school districts have now dropped mask mandates.

"With this welcome news, I cannot urge the public enough to get their vaccinations, if they have not already,” Durham Mayor Elaine O’Neal said.

“Even though we have a high number of residents who are vaccinated and have received their boosters, too many have not. We do know from the data that those who are unvaccinated experience more severe COVID-19 symptoms that can lead to hospitalization, which is a key metric that factored into our decision to lift the mask mandate,” she said.