The city of Columbus has announced plans to lift mask requirements for visitors and employees in city buildings unless they have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or have tested positive for the virus, citing new federal guidelines and a drop in local infections and hospitalizations.
City officials said Tuesday that city buildings will become “mask optional” starting Friday, meaning that people can choose whether they wear a mask inside city buildings.
However, masks will continue to be required on city buses, which are still subject to federal mask requirements.
Masks will continue to be available for visitors if they want one, city officials said. If a visitor feels more comfortable interacting with an employee who is wearing a mask, city employees will put one on.
“The (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) changed their guidelines to allow local assessments of positivity and hospitalization rates,” said Arlette Tinsley, the city’s human resources director. “So we’re not saying that we won’t require masks in the future, but this is a decision based on a modification of CDC guidelines that allows a local assessment, and we will be mask optional.”
The city’s decision to relax mask requirements in city buildings came just days after the CDC announced a change to the metrics it uses to determine whether to recommend face coverings, shifting from looking at COVID-19 cases by county to a more holistic view of risk from the coronavirus to a community.
The new county metrics include rate of new COVID-19 hospital admissions, the share of staffed hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients and the rate of new cases in the community, The Associated Press reported.
The CDC is also offering a color-coded map — with counties designated as orange, yellow or green — to help guide local officials and residents, according to wire reports. In green counties, local officials can drop any indoor masking rules. Yellow means people at high risk for severe disease should be cautious. Orange designates places where the CDC suggests masking should be universal.
Currently, Bartholomew County listed in the yellow category, though Brown County is in the orange category.
The CDC guidelines for other indoor spaces aren’t binding, meaning cities and institutions even in areas of low risk may set their own rules. And the agency says people with COVID-19 symptoms or who test positive shouldn’t stop wearing masks.
The change in city policy also comes a little over a month after Bartholomew County government buildings went mask optional.
In January, signs requiring masks were taken down in county government buildings, county Treasurer Barb Hackman said. At that time, the wearing of masks in the workplace became optional for most employees, county administrator Tina Douglas said.
The county will open its meetings to in-person on April 4, although a virtual option will still be available.
The city is still allowing people to participate in public meetings virtually, though people can attend in person. City officials also have been taking other safety measures, including, among other things, spacing chairs out and using plastic dividers.
“We are using the emergency order that is still in place through March 4, at least,” Tinsley said. “We don’t know what the governor will do with public meetings, but there is an emergency order that allows people to participate remotely, and we don’t know if that will be extended beyond March 4.”
“We will continue to assess,” Tinsley added. “It’s a fluid situation.”
Despite relaxed mask requirements, local health officials are urging people to be cautious as “we’re not out of the woods yet.”
“We still support and encourage mask wearing as a safety precaution, regardless of your vaccination status,” said CRH spokeswoman Kelsey DeClue. “…Just erring on the side of safety is always going to be something that we would and are going to continue to recommend.”
“It’s definitely not time to flip the switch at all,” DeClue added.
COVID-19 killed 18 Bartholomew County residents in February, raising the overall death toll to 240 since spring 2020, according to the Indiana Department of Health. There were 10 people hospitalized with the virus at Columbus Regional Hospital on Monday, down from a record 70 at one point in January, according to hospital records.
City officials said they wouldn’t rule out reinstating mask requirements in the future if the pandemic takes a turn for the worse.
“We’re making a decision consistent with CDC guidelines that allows us to do local assessment, and that local assessment could change if things get worse,” Tinsley said.
