Even as Mayor Muriel Bowser’s decision to ease mask requirements in Washington DC comes into effect today, the COVID-19 safety protocol will still have to to be followed under certain circumstances. These include any private business that wants a mask requirement; on public transport; inside schools, childcare facilities, and libraries; facilities, such as nursing homes/assisted living facilities, shelters, dorms/residences, and correctional facilities; and in DC Government facilities where there is direct interaction between employees and the public.

“Instead of following a blanket mandate, residents, visitors, and workers will be advised to follow risk-based guidance from DC Health that accounts for current health metrics and a person’s vaccination status,” Bowser’s office said in a statement last week.

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However, majority of the DC Council pleaded with Bowser to reconsider her decision, which  Council member Robert White called “premature”.

“Cold weather states showing an uptick in COVID-19 cases, CDC metrics show the district in the substantial spread zone, neighboring jurisdictions are moving to reinstate mask mandates as they see a surge in coronavirus cases, and our youngest residents still aren’t vaccinated,” he tweeted.

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White and nine other members of the DC Council wrote an open letter to Bowser, asking her to stick to the national capital’s virus containment measures that they said had been “appropriately thoughtful, careful and protective of our residents.”

Montgomery County in Maryland reinstated its mask mandate Saturday following what the CDC defined as “substantial transmission” of COVID-19 over seven days.

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Bowser termed the step as a “shift in where we are with the pandemic.” The US capital first lifted its indoor mask requirement for fully vaccinated people in May, only to reinstate it in late July amid a surge in cases. As of November 20, the current seven-day average of new cases in DC was higher than it was in May when the first mask requirement was lifted, but still well below the late-summer delta-variant peak in August and September.

(With AP inputs)