Nation's capital to drop most indoor masking rules скачать в хорошем качестве

Nation's capital to drop most indoor masking rules

(18 Nov 2021) The nation's capital is planning to lift most of its indoor masking requirements next week, as COVID-19 infection cases in Washington D.C. continue to trend downward. Starting Monday, Nov. 22, masks will no longer be required in many indoor spaces around Washington D.C. A statement from the city Health Department announced that masks will still be required in certain settings, including schools, libraries, public transportation, ride-share vehicles and group-living facilities like nursing homes, dorms and jails. Andrew Levine, who lives in D.C. and is studying public health at George Washington University, worries that repealing the city-wide mask mandate will mean "less and less" people are wearing masks, even in settings where face coverings are still required. "When I'm riding on the metro, I already see some people not wearing masks even when there is a mandate," Levine said. "Not too sure if that's going to have a good outlook for the amount of cases that we have in D.C., so that kind of makes me a little bit anxious." Private businesses will still be able to require customers to wear masks, if they so choose. Jonni Navas, who works as a bartender in Washington DC, believes face masks have played a significant role in "limiting the spread" of COVID-19, but has seen more and more people bend the rules of mask mandates as time wears on. "It's kind of hard to enforce any kind of rule or any kind of real mandate about it, especially inside a business, because... if you're at a restaurant, people take it off and it's, you know, the attitude is kind of lax," Navas said. The nation's capital originally lifted its indoor mask requirement for fully vaccinated individuals in May, but reinstated it in late July as cases began to rise again. Washington D.C. resident Sharif Saleh, who is originally from Afghanistan, said he has gotten three shots of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Saleh still wears a face mask in public setting because he often doesn't know if other people around him have also been vaccinated. "At this point I'm sort of like letting it go. And I can't change people," Saleh said. "But I'll... take care of my myself and do all the precautions that I can do. Wear my mask where I can and where I should. Wash my hands as often as I can. And if there's another booster shot. I'll get two, three or more of them." Daniela Rodas, a Mexican American who also lives in DC, said she feels "naked" going out without her face mask, and is glad private business still have the right to tell people to wear their masks inside their stores. "I actually feel like having vaccine mandates and proving that you are vaccinated would be more effective than probably wearing a mask," Rodas said. "And I mean, the mask mandates are being lifted, but the pandemic is still here." The greater Washington area still remains an area of "substantial" transmission, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mayor Muriel Bowser has repeatedly described mask requirements as a sort of thermostat-style dial that can be turned up or down based on shifting conditions. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...