Delaware drops school mask mandate Tuesday, one month earlier than expected

Meredith Newman and Brad Myers, Delaware News Journal
·2 min read

Gov. John Carney announced on Monday that he will end the mask requirement for schools on March 1, dropping the mandate one month earlier than expected.

Just a few weeks ago the governor said the mask mandate would end March 31, announcing then that it would be up to districts to decide if they want to continue the requirement.

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Now, the order to wear a mask in public and private school settings, as well as child care facilities, ends at 6 p.m. Tuesday. School districts can still require teachers, staff and students at their respective schools to wear a mask.

Gov. John Carney delivers his State of the State address in the House chamber on Jan. 20, 2022.
Gov. John Carney delivers his State of the State address in the House chamber on Jan. 20, 2022.

State officials attributed this change to updated guidance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The school mask mandate will end one hour before eight Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association Boys Basketball Tournament first-round games are scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. Tuesday across the state.

DIAA executive director Donna Polk said the organization will not require masks at any boys or girls basketball tournament games in the next two weeks. But she said individual schools or venues will still have the right to continue requiring masks.

“If there are any restrictions per a district or local school, we would have to follow that,” Polk said.

Polk suggested that fans continue to take masks to all games, in case they are still required by a specific school.

“Masks will hopefully be off, people will be able to smile a little bit and hopefully the energy will be great,” Polk said.

The governor is also ending the vaccine or regular testing requirements for educators and state employees at 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 28, officials said.

This announcement comes at a time when COVID-19 hospitalizations and the percent of positive tests are at their lowest point since early August. The demand for testing has also plummeted, just a fraction of what it was compared with one month ago.

Delaware has seen low COVID-19 transmission rates inside of schools, which health officials have attributed to the mask policy. Yet the state has struggled to vaccinate its youngest residents.

Many parents are still unwilling to vaccinate their children who are eligible for the vaccine. As of Feb. 28, about 26% of children ages 5 to 11 are fully vaccinated, while 57.4% of teenagers 12 to 17 have received both doses.

Contact Meredith Newman at (302) 256-2466 or at mnewman@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MereNewman.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware drops school mask mandate a month early