Murphy to eliminate mask mandate in New Jersey schools and day cares beginning in March

Gov. Phil Murphy will lift the statewide mask mandate in New Jersey schools and day care facilities beginning March 7 as COVID hospitalizations and cases continue to plunge — but at a time when most young students are still not vaccinated.

And while the state mask mandate will be lifted, local school officials and day care operators will retain the power to keep mask mandates for students, teachers and staff in place if they so desire, Murphy said Monday at his weekly pandemic briefing.

"This is a huge step back to normalcy for our kids," Murphy said.

Schools will not be permitted to ban the use of masks. Murphy said he hopes schools will take disciplinary action if anyone is bullied for continuing to wear a mask.

"We can responsibly take this step given the continuing drop in new cases and hospitalizations from omicron and all the evidence projecting a continued decline over the coming weeks," Murphy said of the highly contagious variant that appears to be waning.

A "growth in vaccinations" was also a major reason for lifting the mandate, Murphy said. But vaccinating young children has been a struggle in New Jersey.

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In the three months since COVID vaccines became available to 5- to 11-year-olds, only about 1 of 4 kids in that age group are fully vaccinated. No vaccine has been approved for younger children who would go to a day care facility, but Pfizer has applied to regulators to approve a vaccine for children 6 months old through age 4.

The issue of having students wear masks has divided schools throughout the state with often intense debates and demonstrations, with some people advocating individual choice while others argue that masks are a public health measure that greatly reduces COVID's spread.

The move to lift the state mask mandate comes as COVID metrics such as daily new cases and hospitalizations are dropping precipitously after a surge propelled by the omicron variant that began in December.

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Murphy has said for weeks that he was considering dropping the mask mandate when COVID metrics began to fall in mid-January.

He said Monday that he's waiting until March 7 to lift the mandate so local school districts have time to decide whether they want to keep the requirement or eliminate it. The March date will also likely provide some warmer temperatures, allowing schools to open more windows and provide better ventilation than in the heart of winter.

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The announcement came less than a month after Murphy renewed the school mask mandate. His executive order on Jan. 11 came several hours before the mandate would have expired and left masking decisions to local school districts.

At the end of the prior school year, Murphy said he would let school districts determine whether students would be required to wear a mask. But he pulled that back in late summer when COVID unexpectedly surged due to the highly contagious delta variant. That was followed in December and January by the even larger surge in COVID as the omicron variant spread through the state.

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The latest spike has since dropped just as steeply. COVID hospitalizations in New Jersey have plunged by more than a third, to 1,910 on Sunday from a high of 6,089 on Jan. 11.

There were 1,490 new daily cases reported Monday confirmed through PCR tests, down from a high of 33,459 on Jan. 7 driven by a surge in testing before, during and after the December holidays.

Weekly case rates in schools have also dropped dramatically, down 79% from what they were among students at the beginning of January, and down 86% from what they were among teachers and staff.

While New Jersey has one of the highest vaccination rates of any state, many parents are still reluctant to get their young kids shots three months after the Food and Drug Administration approved them.

As of Feb. 1:

• 203,995 of about 761,000 5- to 11-year-olds in New Jersey have gotten two shots.

• That means 26.8% in that age group are fully vaccinated.

• 36.4% of 5- to 11-year-olds have received at least one dose.

Pediatricians and public health officials have raised concern about the long-term implications of the low vaccination rate in New Jersey and elsewhere among 5- to 11-year-olds, especially if another variant emerges and is as deadly and contagious as the delta and omicron strains.

Murphy said those vaccination rates are not rising "as fast as we’d like," but that the decrease in other COVID metrics was important.

"You’re trying to get a whole bunch of data streams together and make the best call you can,” he said.

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Republican legislators said the move by Murphy showed that pressure to speed up a return to normalcy is working. Sen. Kristin Corrado, R-Passaic, said the mandate should end immediately.

"Parents want their rights to make masking decisions for their kids restored today, not next month,” she said.

Murphy said pulling back too early could have led to another surge.

The state Health Department will issue suggestions to school districts on how best to mitigate the spread of COVID if they do not continue mask mandates.

Leaders of the state's largest teachers' union — the New Jersey Education Association — said they were "cautiously optimistic" that the mask mandate can be lifted given the current COVID trends.

Murphy's move is the biggest pullback of COVID restrictions since he eliminated the indoor mask mandate and capacity restrictions for indoor public places such as restaurants, stores and theaters. Businesses can still choose to impose their own mandates.

State government buildings are the only facilities now that still impose a Murphy-controlled mask mandate in New Jersey. Murphy said his health team has been discussing lifting those mandates but has not yet made a decision.

Masks must still be worn at transportation facilities such as airports and train stations as well as all health care facilities under a federal mandate.

Scott Fallon has covered the COVID-19 pandemic since its onset in March 2020. To get unlimited access to the latest news about the pandemic's impact on New Jersey, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: fallon@northjersey.com

Twitter: @newsfallon

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ school, day care mask mandate to be lifted by Gov. Phil Murphy