Capitol ditches mask requirement ahead of State of the Union

[left-of-center2012]

Face coverings are now optional for President Joe Biden's State of the Union address Tuesday, as Congress is lifting its mask requirement on the House floor after federal regulators eased guidelines last week in a rethinking of the nation's strategy to adapt to living with a more manageable COVID-19. Congress' Office of the Attending Physician announced the policy change Sunday, lifting a requirement that has been in place for much of the past two years and had become a partisan flashpoint on Capitol Hill. The change ahead of the speech will avoid a potential disruptive display of national tensions and frustration as Biden tries to nudge the country to move beyond the pandemic.

The nation's capital is now in an area considered low risk under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new metrics, which place less of a focus on positive test results and more on what’s happening in community hospitals. The new system greatly changes the look of the CDC’s risk map and puts more than 70% of the U.S. population in counties where the coronavirus is posing a low or medium threat to hospitals. Healthy people in those risk areas can stop wearing masks indoors, the agency said.

Mask-wearing will still be a personal choice in Congress and special precautions will be in place for Biden's speech, which unlike last year's joint address will be open to all members of Congress. All attendees will be required to take a COVID-19 test before entering the chamber ahead of Biden's address.

The relaxed guidance comes as Biden aims to use his remarks to highlight the progress against COVID-19 made over the last year, including vaccinations and therapeutics, and guide the country into a “new phase” of the virus response that is not driven by emergency measures and looks more like life pre-pandemic.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/capitol-ditches-mask-requirement-ahead-state-union-83148686

[littlemissmartypants]

1. Big mistake. And they should require three days of negative tests in the days leading up to the

Address, at the very least, imo. The capital is low risk for a reason. Things can change.

🌻❤🌻

[bottomofthehill]

2. The Capitol is not low risk

Although things have gotten better in DC, Northern VA and the MD suburbs, the Capitol itself is a vector for Covid. People come in from all over the country, places with low, moderate and High case loads. They all come and sit in one room for hours. It’s really not a low risk area.

[orleans]

3. oh jeez, just one more thing to worry about. nt