U.S. states break ranks on COVID rules despite scientific doubt

Two years into a global pandemic, states and cities are struggling to answer a critical question: How do you know when to return to normal life?

The question is dividing politically aligned regions that had been in near-lockstep on other COVID-19 mitigation measures earlier in the pandemic. As New Jersey, for example, dropped a mask mandate in schools, neighboring New York signaled it would keep masks until at least March. Meanwhile, it let vaccinated adults go maskless in other indoor spaces.

Experts find little consensus over which metrics should drive public health policy, and often politics dictate critical COVID benchmarks as much as science. For many people, this has created uncertainty on how to go about daily life as it becomes clear that the virus is here for the long haul.

In recent weeks, confusion has played out in particular over masking. A dip in COVID cases and hospitalizations prompted states with some of the most stringent mask rules, including New York and California, to pull back mandates. At the same time, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky have both continued to urge caution.