What to know
- Pennsylvania is relaxing its mask mandate to allow people who have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus to get together with other vaccinated people without masks or social aloofness.
- State health officials said Monday that the new rules also apply to vaccinated people who get together with people from one household who have not been vaccinated but who have a low risk of serious illness from the coronavirus – such as vaccinated grandparents visiting healthy grandchildren.
- Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam has revised the state’s existing masking order to be consistent with recent guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pennsylvania has relaxed its mask mandate to allow people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to get together with other vaccinated people without masks or social distance, health officials said Monday.
The new rules also apply to vaccinated people who get together with people from one household who have not been vaccinated but who are believed to have a low risk of serious coronavirus disease – such as vaccinated grandparents visiting healthy grandchildren.
Vaccinated people also no longer need to go into quarantine after exposure to someone with COVID-19, as long as they don’t develop symptoms, health officials said.
Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam has revised the state’s existing masking order to be consistent with recent guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Research has shown that fully vaccinated people are less likely to have an asymptomatic infection and may be less likely to spread the virus that causes COVID-19 to others,” said Beam. “However, there is more to learn about how long protection lasts and how much vaccines protect against new variants of the virus, so some prevention measures will remain in effect for all people regardless of their vaccination status.”
The state said vaccinated people should continue to wear masks and social distance in public, and when visiting people in multiple households or with people at higher risk for serious illness from COVID-19.
All other aspects of the current state masking command remain in effect.
Pennsylvania tightened its mask mandate in November in response to an increase in coronavirus cases. The state required indoor masks wherever people from different households gathered, including in private homes, although officials relied on voluntary compliance rather than enforcement.
Pennsylvania had seen a sharp decline in the number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths after a winter peak, but the number of cases has risen again – from about 2,500 a day two weeks ago to 2,900 a day as of this weekend. The decline in hospital admissions has stalled, government officials said.
The state is approaching 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases and nearly 24,800 deaths have been attributed to COVID-19.