BOSTON (WHDH) - The mask mandate remains in place for Boston Public Schools despite the city’s Board of Health voting unanimously Wednesday to lift the COVID-19 public health emergency next month.
Dr. Sarimer Sánchez from the Boston Public Health Commission’s Infectious Diseases Bureau advised during the Board of Health meeting that BPS review its masking policy when the number of positive COVID-19 tests per day in Boston falls below 10 cases per 100,000 residents.
The current COVID-19 daily case incidence is about 13 cases per 100,000 residents in Boston, officials said.
Sánchez added that “The Boston Public Health Commission has also been collaborating with BPS in strategic efforts to enhance vaccination uptake among students, especially in our high-need neighborhoods.”
Officials say more than 90 schools in the district have hosted or scheduled vaccination clinics.
The final decision on revising the school mask policy will be made by BPS.
In the meantime, the city’s COVID-19 public health emergency is set to end on April 1.
Health officials declared an emergency back in March 2020 at the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak. Boston lifted its indoor mask mandate for businesses and many other venues last weekend.
“In the early stages of the pandemic, the declaration was really instrumental,” said Dr. Bisola Ojikutu who serves as Commissioner of Public Health and the Executive Director of the Boston Public Health Commission.
Ojikutu had recommended rescinding the order based on the city’s improving COVID-19 metrics, including community positivity, daily adult COVID-19 hospitalizations, and occupied ICU beds.
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