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Good news, kids. Your days of attending school in masks are nearly over. (For now.)
Wayne County Health Department officials announced Friday that the K-12 mask mandate would be lifted as of Feb. 28, joining the rest of the state in easing Covid-19 restrictions amid dropping case numbers.
One caveat: Local school officials still have authority to keep mandates for individual districts.
Original story:
Oakland County announced Friday it will lift mask mandates at schools and day cares Feb. 28. That move will end an emergency order in place for months and follows the lead of eight other Michigan counties doing so next week.
A drop in cases and hospitalizations, alkong with an increase in vaccinations, triggered the move. It also came after Walled Lake Consolidated Schools parents sent letters to Oakland County officials demanding the mandate be dropped.
"As we see our critical measures of vaccinations, hospital admissions, and cases moving in a direction that tell us the Covid-19 impact on our community is greatly improving, the time is right to remove the mask order for daycares and educational institutions," Health Division Medical Director Dr. Russell Faust said in a statement.
"We must remain vigilant, however, while we remain in a pandemic. It is vital that we as individuals maintain the measures that are critical to limiting the spread of the virus while allowing businesses and schools to stay open, and our hospitals to operate safely."
Ingham County, which includes Lansing and East Lansing, announced the Feb. 18 end of its mandate Thursday. Washtenaw County also is dropping a school mask requirement Feb. 28 because "local cases have declined sharply since peaking in early January."
Six northern Michigan are the others rescinding school mask policies next week, Bridge Michigan reports, noting that the change affects tens of thousands of students.
