Mercer Co. COVID Cases Drop Further, As CDC Eases Mask Guidance

MERCER COUNTY, NJ — The number of positive coronavirus cases in Mercer County dropped further this week. This comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased its mask guidance in communities where COVID-19 cases have plummeted.

On Friday, Mercer County reported 42 positive COVID-19 cases, with two lab-confirmed and two hospital-reported deaths.

For the week ending Feb. 19, The New Jersey Department of Health downgraded Mercer County's COVID-19 activity level from "high" to "moderate."

At the "moderate" risk level, between 1-10 out of every 100,000 people were estimated to have the virus.

According to the new CDC metrics, about 28 percent of people in the country live in a county where they need to wear masks. Many Townships in Mercer had indoor mask mandates as COVID-19 cases surged in January, but those mandates have been suspended with cases dropping.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced earlier this month that New Jersey will drop its statewide mask mandate for schools, effective March 7. The state will allow individual school districts and daycare centers to maintain masking requirements after that date.

Many Mercer County schools have either made masks optional at schools are expected to make an announcement soon.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky tweeted Thursday that the agency is shifting its focus to concentrate on preventing the spread of COVID-19 to minimize the strain on the health care system.

Read More: CDC Updates COVID Mask Guidelines: What It Means In NJ

In her Thursday night tweets, Walensky said community infection rates will determine when and where extra precautions such as mask-wearing and testing should be targeted.

"Moving forward, our approach will advise enhanced prevention efforts in communities with a high volume of severe illness and will also focus on protecting our healthcare systems from being overwhelmed," she tweeted.

The new recommendations of course do not change mask requirements for public transportation and places like airports, train and bus stations.

The daily infection rates in the country are down to about 82,000 cases nationwide, according to a database kept by The New York Times, and hospitalizations are down about 44 percent. But about 2,000 people a day are still dying of the virus, The Times reported.

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