Officials say rapidly declining COVID-19 numbers led to lifting of mask requirements

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidelines last week, loosening mask mandates. And many cities across the Triad are following suit, despite most North Carolina counties still being considered high risk. 

Local health officials say the date to lift those requirements has been a moving target. 

For much of the pandemic, officials have said mandates would be lifted when certain metrics of deaths and hospitalizations have been met, and many question the seeming suddenness of the new guidelines.

Dr. David Priest with Novant Health said at a press briefing that the lifting of masking requirements has now been quickened by the declining rates of COVID-19 cases.

"I think that how rapid the decline has been has probably changed the mind of some of those people who had set a hard target," said Priest. 

Priest added that in navigating the pandemic, officials have had to balance the medical community's tolerance for risk with the public's frustration over how COVID-19 has disrupted daily life.

"I think it's part of the challenge of the messaging of the whole pandemic, which has not always been clear, so hopefully as we get through this we learn a lot of lessons on public health policy, on public health infrastructure, on public health messaging, and on human psychology that will all help us going forward," Priest said. 

Priest believes that vaccination remains the best defense against the spread of COVID-19 and that scientists are still determining whether an annual vaccination will be necessary.