Children at an American school experienced unbelievable joy when their teacher informed them they would no longer need to wear masks, prompting screams, jumps, and laughter. The news was shared in a classroom in Las Vegas, Nevada, where the teacher said, "Starting this morning, we will not wear masks anymore." The children began dancing and cheering loudly while removing their masks. The video went viral, amassing over 5 million views and receiving more than 89,000 likes. Some commentators expressed their happiness at the children's overwhelming joy and suggested that masks should be banned for such young ages, while others raised concerns about the dangers of such decisions.
This announcement came as the White House began preparing a strategy to return to normal life despite rising rates of infections and deaths.
**Ending Mask Mandates**
After months of following public health agency guidelines, several Democratic state governors announced plans this week to end mask mandates in schools and other places. Six states—California, Delaware, Illinois, New York, Oregon, and Rhode Island—indicated they would drop mask mandates in public places in the coming weeks. Regarding schools, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, and Oregon will stop enforcing mask requirements in the next few weeks, leaving it to individual school districts to decide.
However, these decisions conflict with the recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC Director Rochelle Walensky confirmed to reporters last Wednesday that the agency is working on updating its guidelines, though she declined to specify the criteria that could be used to guide states on what actions to take.
