DC lifts indoor mask mandate: Here’s where masks will still be required in the District

WASHINGTON - Beginning today, masks will no longer be required in many indoor spaces in D.C.

"Instead of following a blanket mandate, residents, visitors, and workers will be advised to follow risk-based guidance from DC Health that accounts for current health metrics and a person's vaccination status," said a statement from Mayor Muriel Bowser's office last week.

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FILE - Surgical masks on a white surface stock photo. (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Masks will still be required, regardless of vaccination status, in the following circumstances:

- Any private business that wants a mask requirement;

- On public transport like buses and trains, inside train stations, in airports, and while in ride share vehicles;

- Inside schools, childcare facilities, and libraries;

- Congregate facilities, such as nursing homes/assisted living facilities, shelters, dorms/residences, and correctional facilities; and

- In DC Government facilities where there is direct interaction between employees and the public (e.g., DMV service center; DHS service center, etc.).

Mayor Bowser's decision to ease mask requirements in the nation's capital sparked a debate about timing, with the majority of the D.C. Council pleading with her to reconsider.

Montgomery County reinstated its mask mandate Saturday after seven days of what the CDC defines as "substantial transmission" of COVID-19.