Mask Mandate: Maplewood Drops Indoor Rule As COVID Rate Declines

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Maplewood's Board of Health voted Tuesday night to drop the town's indoor mask mandate, effective immediately.

The township announced the changes on its website Wednesday evening.

"At the March 1 meeting of the Maplewood Board of Health, Township Committee members voted unanimously in favor of adopting Health Officer Candice Davenport’s recommendations for updated COVID-19 protocol," the town noted.

The changes, effective immediately, include:

• Lifting the township-wide mask mandate for inside buildings.
• Lifting proof of vaccine or negative test requirements for township events.

However, mask mandates remain in effect for the township's jitney commuter service in accordance with federal transportation guidelines.

And for now, mask mandates remain inside the schools. READ MORE: Maplewood Parents Fight School Mask Mandate

In making her recommendation, Davenport cited low COVID transmission in Essex County, low COVID case numbers within the township (128 in February, down from 1,364 in January), and updated CDC guidance on indoor masking, the town said.

Also, vaccination rates within the township are high (over 90 percent for residents 12 and over).

Town officials noted that businesses still had the right to request that customers wear a mask, and people can still wear masks if they feel it helps them.

"Any businesses within the Township who wish to maintain a mask mandate for their employees and/or customers are welcome to do so," the town said. "Further, individuals are encouraged to monitor their own comfort and risk levels with the virus and mask accordingly."

The town had reinstated an indoor mask mandate for businesses and town buildings and events in late December, as COVID numbers were spiking after the holidays. READ MORE: Indoor Mask Mandate Approved For Maplewood Businesses, Buildings

And officials in the South Orange-Maplewood School District announced last month that they'd continue the district-wide mask mandate past March 7, although a parent group attended two school board meetings in the last week to urge a "mask optional" policy. READ MORE: Parents Fight Mask Mandate In South Orange-Maplewood Schools

The CDC recently moved Essex County into its "low" category for COVID activity levels. READ MORE: NJ Moves Essex County To 'Low' COVID Activity Level

Cases have started to come down in North Jersey since spiking in late December and January after the holidays.

Maplewood Numbers

In Maplewood there have been a total of 46 deaths of residents to the virus since the pandemic started. South Orange has lost 21 residents with the virus.

Children are less likely to get seriously ill with COVID than adults. However, the CDC has called children losing a parent to COVID a "hidden pandemic."

And parents and children have experienced long COVID, as one North Jersey mom shared last year.

The state of New Jersey is urging parents to talk to their own pediatrician about the right safety measures for their child.

People can get information about Essex County testing, vaccines, and boosters here.

In America, more than 951,000 people have died of COVID since the start of the pandemic. The daily death rate is highest right now in these states.

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