U.S. CDC stands by K-12 school masking guidance as states relax rules –Walensky

With COVID-19 cases still high nationwide, 'now is not the moment' to drop mask mandates in schools and other public places, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told Reuters on Tuesday. Her comments follow announcements by officials in New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, California and Oregon that they plan to lift indoor mask mandates for K-12 public schools and other indoor spaces in coming weeks, seeking a return to normalcy as infections spurred by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus ebb. 'I know people are interested in taking masks off. I too am interested. That would be one marker that we have much of the pandemic behind us,' Walenksy said in an interview.