Mandates around the globe are ending, but don’t throw out your masks yet.

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Face masks were one of our earliest interventions to slow the spread of Covid-19. For two years we’ve largely relied on local governments and businesses to tell us when and where to wear them, but now those mandates are being lifted. So is it actually safe to take off the masks for good?

It depends on who you are and where you are. Cases are dropping in many places around the world after a harsh omicron surge, but some countries are still fighting off deadly waves of the virus. Many public health experts are warning that the pandemic isn’t over yet, even if it feels like it is to some of us. It’s a good idea to hang onto your mask for now, but that doesn’t mean you have to wear it every day for the rest of your life, just that you should take a few key things into consideration. Check out the video above to learn more about risk mitigation as we weather the third year of a pandemic.

Some resources for Covid-19 numbers:
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-...

Studies on the effectiveness of face masks and mandates:
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/art...
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/...
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/s...
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas...

And more from the CDC:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-...
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/w...

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