Michigan’s second-largest county on Friday dropped a mask requirement for schools and day care facilities, pointing to sharp declines in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations and rising vaccination rates.
The announcement by Oakland County in suburban Detroit came a day after another big county, Ingham in the Lansing area, lifted its mandate. Oakland’s order will end Feb 28.
“As we see our critical measures of vaccinations, hospital admissions and cases moving in a direction that tell us the COVID-19 impact on our community is greatly improving, the time is right to remove the mask order for daycares and educational institutions,” Dr. Russell Faust, the county’s medical director, said in a statement. “We must remain vigilant, however, while we remain in a pandemic.”
He strongly recommended masking in public indoor settings, including educational settings. School districts and day care centers will decide whether or not to still require masks.
