Capitol leaders rescind mask mandate ahead of State of the Union

The transition away from masks follows Democrats’ shifting rhetoric on entering a new phase of the pandemic, plus fresh recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued Friday.

The Capitol’s walk-in testing site for employees will continue operating, according to Monahan’s memo. But the distribution of at-home testing kits that started during the surge of the Omicron variant will be paused starting March 7, only to resume if cases rise once again.

According to the Office of the Attending Physician, 89 percent of coronavirus infections at the Capitol in the last two weeks occurred in vaccinated individuals. About 63 percent of cases were symptomatic, with 37 percent detected in asymptomatic employees.

As governors around the country rolled back pandemic restrictions, some vulnerable Democratic lawmakers had asked for a retooling of the Biden administration’s handling of the virus. They hoped for a kind of “new normal” as the Omicron wave ebbed and vaccination numbers increased.

The Capitol’s own mask requirements had become a political flashpoint. Some Republican lawmakers, such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, racked up tens of thousands of dollars in fines for refusing to wear masks on the House floor, even as others eschewed masks throughout the rest of the complex.

Nicholas Wu and Sarah Ferris contributed to this report.

Source:Politico