(WXYZ) — Oakland County announced Friday that it will be ending the school mask requirement on Feb. 28.
The Oakland County Health Division said the mask requirement will be lifted in schools and daycares once the county rescinds its emergency order 2021-1.
The health division said it looked at multiple factors before making the decision, noting the decline in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations coupled with vaccination rates in the county.
“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 press release. “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.”
The health division says they still strongly recommend wearing a mask in public indoor settings.
According to a press release, the health division references the State of Michigan COVID Vaccine Dashboard, which shows 75.8 percent of Oakland County residents 5 and up received their first dose of the vaccine as of Feb. 8. That number is 79.1 percent for residents 12 and up.
Earlier this week, Ingham County also announced they would be ending the school mask requirement starting Feb. 19.
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