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Several counties including Wayne plan to end school mask mandate

'We must remain vigilant, however, while we remain in a pandemic'

Oakland, Washtenaw and Ingham counties announced that they will be lifting mask requirements in schools.

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(WXYZ) — Wayne, Washtenaw, Oakland and Ingham counties have announced that they are dropping the mask requirement for educational institutions.

Ingham County will rescind the coronavirus orders beginning at midnight on Feb. 19.

Oakland and Washtenaw County announced Friday that the school mask requirements will end on Feb. 28.

“I completely understand and sympathize with everyone who is sick and tired of COVID and just wants to move on with their lives," said Wayne County Executive Communications Manager Keith Owens. "The only note of caution I would issue is that we also thought that COVID was essentially done with us last summer, only to see it come raging back."

Wayne County has announced they anticipate the end of its school mask requirement by Feb. 28.

“We are in a different place now. We can offer more flexibility while we continue to provide appropriate guidance and work with our local schools to protect health, prevent spread, and maintain in-person learning as safely as possible,” says MSW, Health Officer of Washtenaw County Health Department Jimena Loveluck.

Ingham county says it’s revoking both emergency orders Ingham 2021-2 and Ingham 2021-3, which were issued Sept. 2, 2021. They made the announcement on Thursday.

“We are at a point in this pandemic in which public health strategies will begin to shift more towards personal responsibility as we learn to live with COVID-19 long-term,” Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail said in a statement.

"We must remain vigilant, however, while we remain in a pandemic," Health Division Medical Director Dr. Russell Faust said in a press release. "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.”

In Michigan, that leaves Wayne County, which still has a mask mandate for schools, but that could change.

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