CDC Says Maricopa County Doesn't Need To Mask

PHOENIX, AZ — People in Maricopa County who haven't already ditched their face masks can now do so, according to new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In addition to the COVID-19 case counts that the old guidance used, the new guidance also uses hospital bed utilization and hospital admissions to determine community risk level, and puts the Maricopa County risk level at "medium."

The CDC does not recommend masking for communities at medium and low risk levels, but advises that people in those communities who are at high risk for severe disease consult with their doctor when deciding whether to go unmasked.

Under the new guidance, around 70 percent of Americans can shed their masks while indoors.

The CDC also advises masking for people who have tested positive for COVID-19, have symptoms of the disease or were exposed to someone with COVID-19, no matter what their community risk level.

Many businesses in the Valley had already relaxed their masking requirements, making masks optional, even before the CDC changed its guidance.

The city of Tempe dropped masking requirements inside city-run buildings, as of Saturday.
Scottsdale Unified School District stopped requiring masks for students and teachers in January, although the district still strongly recommends that students and staff mask while indoors.

Reported case counts of COVID-19 in Maricopa County, along with the rest of Arizona and most of the U.S., have been dwindling since cases of the omicron variant peaked locally in mid-January. Maricopa County's daily case count has decreased from 16,852 cases reported Jan. 11, to 688 cases reported Feb. 22, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.