Oakland County will lift its requirement for mask-wearing in schools and daycares on Feb. 28, the county's health department said Friday — despite the fact that COVID-19 transmission remains "high."
According to a press release, the Oakland County Health Division said it "weighed several factors to determine the appropriate time to end the mask requirement in schools, including a sharp decline in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations and increasing vaccination rates in Oakland 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. "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 mask mandate will end when the Oakland County Health Division rescinds emergency order 2021-1.
The health department is still recommending people wear masks in schools, however — it's just not mandating it.
"The Health Division still strongly recommends wearing a mask while in public indoor settings, including educational institutions," the press release said.
The press release also noted that both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services continue to recommend universal indoor masking by all students, staff, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.
According to the CDC, COVID-19 transmission remains "high" in Oakland County, as it does in nearly all of the U.S.
CDC
As of Friday, Feb. 11, COVID-19 transmission remains "high" basically everywhere in the U.S.
The Health Division cited encouraging metrics in making its decision, including the county's test positivity dropping nearly 50 percent, the seven-day case average for Feb. 8 declining 83 percent from its peak in early January, hospital admissions in Oakland County for adults dropping 72 percent since the peak on Jan. 10, and hospital admissions declining 67 percent for children since the peak on Jan. 8.
About 75.8% of Oakland County residents age 5 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccines, the department said, while 79.1% of residents age 12 and older have received at least one dose, and 92.9% of residents age 65 and older have received at least one dose.
"We are now at a place in the pandemic where an emergency health order should be replaced by individual action to protect ourselves, especially masking in public and getting vaccinated," Oakland County's Director of Health and Human Services Leigh-Anne Stafford said.
The decision comes as unrest over COVID-19 safety measures among a vocal minority continues to grow. A weeks-long street protest over COVID-19 measures in Canada has turned into a blockade of border crossings like Detroit's Ambassador Bridge, disrupting the economies of both Ontario and Michigan. Last year, school board meetings became the battleground of angry parents, who hurled insults and hyperbolically compared COVID-19 health measures to Nazi Germany.
On Thursday, Ingham County announced it will rescind its mask mandate for schools next week. Washtenaw County officials said they would likely follow suit, while Wayne County has said it is still waiting to decide. Detroit has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the metro area.
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