DC Mayor Lifts Mask Mandate  

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Washington, D.C.’s mask mandate will end on March 1, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced today, meaning masks will no longer be required inside private businesses.

Additionally, starting tomorrow — Feb. 15 — indoor venues will no longer be required to verify that patrons are vaccinated.

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Vaccine requirements for D.C. government employees and health care workers remain in place as does the mandate for children, the mayor said.

Additionally, businesses may choose to keep vaccination requirements in place and masks will still be required at schools, childcare facilities, nursing homes, libraries and government institutions with direct interaction between employees and the public. 

Bowser referenced D.C.’s dwindling COVID-19 cases as the reason for lifting both mandates, with a 38 percent drop in the number of cases since Feb. 1, and a daily rate of 21.8 cases per 100,000 residents. 

“We looked very closely at our levels of vaccinations — at the height of omicron vaccine mandates going in place, and we’ve seen numbers start to decline,” Bowser said. “We do believe that we’ve gotten the push out of the vaccine requirement for indoor venues that we’re going to get.”

While she wouldn’t commit to COVID mandates being over, the mayor did say that situational updates will continue as needed.

“We’ve all learned this virus can reappear, come back in different forms and require different responses, so we are committed to communicate what we know,” she said.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan also announced Monday that masks will no longer be required in state buildings beginning next week, and he’s advocating for schools in Maryland to drop mask mandates.

“Given the dramatic declines in our health metrics, we are now able to take another step toward normalcy in state operations,” he said. “In addition, we continue to offer paid leave for state employees to get their booster shots, which provide critical protection against the virus and its variants.”

In Northern Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin has already issued an executive order to overturn state mandates on masks at schools, but school jurisdictions have so far managed to fight this in the courts or by requiring masks as part of the school uniform. There is currently not a mask mandate for businesses in the state. 

Requests for comment from Bowser’s office were not immediately returned.

Keith Loria can be reached at Kloria@commercialobserver.com.