What New CDC Mask Guidelines Mean In Rhode Island

RHODE ISLAND — As the omicron coronavirus wave subsides, the Biden administration is expected to lift the federal mask mandate Friday.

Masks or proof of vaccination are no longer required in Rhode Island's public spaces, though individual businesses can set their own policies. The statewide school mask mandate will lift March 4, leaving requirements up to districts. The biggest impact would be if the federal mask requirement was lifted for transit, which includes buses, trains and planes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends that people wear masks in areas with substantial or high transmission — roughly about 95 percent of U.S. counties, according to the latest data. While transmission in Rhode Island is still considered high, cases continue to fall week-to-week. Dr. James McDonald, the interim director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, said previously that he expected transmission to fall to "substantial" by the first week of March.

The expected new guidance comes as the virus becomes endemic and the Biden administration focuses on preventing serious illness and death from COVID-19 rather than all instances of infection.

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.

Walensky didn't say when the announcement would be made, though The Associated Press and other news outlets have cited unnamed sources saying the new recommendations would likely come Friday.

In a White House briefing last week, she said hospital capacity is an "important barometer."
"Our hospitals need to be able to take care of people with heart attacks and strokes," she said. "Our emergency departments can't be so overwhelmed that patients with emergent issues have to wait in line."

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 omicron variant of the coronavirus is highly contagious, but generally causes less severe COVID-19 illnesses than other variants, especially among people who are fully vaccinated and boosted, data shows.

Daily U.S. COVID-19 infection rates 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. However, about 2,000 people a day still are dying of the virus, The Times reported.

Omicron infection rates in Massachusetts are continuing to decline rapidly, the Department of Public Health said Thursday.

For the first time since early August, the Commonwealth reported fewer than 1,000 average daily confirmed COVID-19 cases over the last week.

All key COVID-19 metrics, including deaths, cases, and hospitalizations, declined statewide. The seven-day positive test rate dropped from 2.8 to 2.21 percent over the last week in Massachusetts.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.

This article originally appeared on the Newport Patch