POLK COUNTY, Iowa — The list of places around the metro no longer requiring masks is growing bigger every day, including everything from local colleges to the theatre. Some of the nation's top scientists are now saying that for the majority of the country, it's okay to take off your mask.
The updated guidelines on masking came from the CDC last week. The new measures focus less on the number of COVID cases and more on hospitalizations. Under the new guidance, mask mandates are considered unnecessary for roughly 70% of the country.
President Biden touted these changes during his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
"Thanks to the progress we've made in the past year, COVID-19 no longer need control our lives," he said.
Polk County is part of that 70%.
As of March 2, it is considered to have "low community spread" under the CDC's definition. That means there are less than 10 new COVID-19 hospitalizations per day for every 100,000 people, and less than 10% of hospital beds are occupied by COVID patients.
Masks are now optional at Des Moines Public Schools, the district announced Thursday. They are still required, however, at DMPS preschools since four-year-olds are not yet eligible to be vaccinated.
"Masks have been an important tool in preventing and slowing the spread of COVID-19," the district said in a release. "DMPS encourages students, staff and visitors to schools to continue to wear masks if they feel that is best for themselves and those around them."
Seeing the new guidelines, the Des Moines Community Playhouse also announced they are dropping their mask mandate for audience members.
"The reason we kept masks is because it was strongly recommended, but the recommendations have changed. And that's what said to us, 'Well, we've constantly evolved, let's evolve today,'" said David Kilpatrick, Executive Director of the Des Moines Community Playhouse.
Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino confirmed to Local 5 they are also removing their mask mandate.
The Playhouse and Prairie Meadows are not the only ones making that decision, either.
Des Moines city buildings no longer require masks, and Drake University dropped their mask mandate, as well. Tristan Alcorta, a Drake student, is glad the requirement is being lifted but is worried that if COVID flares up, getting people to mask up again might be difficult.
"It is kind of getting back into a bit of normalcy with how things used to be, but we can't be too cautious, at the same time," he said.
The updated CDC guidelines do say if a community reaches high transmission levels, then indoor masking should resume until cases come down.
Another important reminder about those guidelines: the CDC says people with COVID symptoms, a positive test or have been exposed to someone with COVID should still wear a mask, even in low transmission communities.
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