Maine Officials To Change State's School Masking Guidelines

AUGUSTA, ME — Maine public health officials on Wednesday said the state Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will no longer recommend mask-wearing inside schools and child care centers effective next week.

Instead, the agency will revise its guidelines to make mask-wearing optional as of March 9, according to a report by the Portland Press Herald. Officials said it will be up to each school district to decide whether to rescind individual mask mandates.

The change comes as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to decrease across the state, officials said.

"It also comes as Maine and the rest of the nation enters a new phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, where vaccines, therapeutics, and other interventions highly effective at preventing serious illness and death are widely available," state officials said in a statement provided to the Press Herald.

Read more via the Portland Press Herald