A worker inspects disposable gloves at a factory in Malaysia, a country that has been the top supplier of medical gloves to the U. S. and which is facing increasing competition from China. MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
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New York no longer has a face mask mandate — and New York City Mayor Eric Adams is telling stores to get customers to lower their mask before entering, to help prevent crime. It's a reversal of previous guidance for shops: Here, a face mask sign is seen on a cafe's door in December of 2021, when the state mandated the wearing of masks. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption
Students wear masks as a teacher instructs them at Freedom Preparatory Academy on Sept. 10, 2020 in Provo, Utah. GEORGE FREY/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Do masks in school affect kids' speech and social skills?
With mask mandates gone in most places, mask-wearing is up to individual choice. And some people aren't ready to let go. Salvatore Laporta/KONTROLAB/LightRocket via Getty Images hide caption
NIOSH-approved N95 respirators are recommended for preventing transmission of the omicron variant of the coronavirus. Jennifer Swanson/NPR hide caption
First-graders listen to the interim superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, Megan Reilly, read a book at Normont Elementary School in Harbor City on Aug. 16, the first day of school. Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group via Getty Images hide caption
Demonstrators calling on people to wear masks gather outside school district headquarters in Marietta, Ga., last week. A recent review at pandemic data finds requiring masks, capping the size of gatherings and instituting certain bar, gym and restaurant restrictions are all strategies that can help stop a surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations. Mike Stewart/AP hide caption
Even Moderate COVID Restrictions Can Slow The Spread Of The Virus — If They're Timely
Kindergartner Allyson Zavala joined with other students and school superintendent Austin Buetner for a class selfie in April inside teacher Alicia Pizzi's classroom at Maurice Sendak Elementary School in North Hollywood, Calif. Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images hide caption
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn't budged on its guidance that vaccinated people can skip mask-wearing, but some local governments faced with surging cases are going back to mandates, such as Los Angeles County, which recently mandated indoor mask use, including at places like bars and restaurants. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
People walk near the Chicago Theatre on Tuesday in the city's Loop community. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased its guidelines on the wearing of masks, saying fully vaccinated Americans don't need to cover their faces anymore in most settings. Will it encourage the unvaccinated to get their shots? Shafkat Anowar/AP hide caption
Nicole McGrew, wearing a mask by the designer N'omose Couture, says she'll require customers to mask up in her store for a short time longer. Andrea Hsu/NPR hide caption
For about a year, major U.S. commercial airlines have required all passengers who are older than 2 to wear face masks on flights. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption
Students stand for the Pledge of Allegiance as they return to in-person learning at St. Anthony Catholic High School in California on March 24. Masks and physical distancing are proving to have some major public health benefits, keeping people from getting all kinds of illnesses, not just COVID-19. But it's unclear whether the strict protocols would be worth the drawbacks in the long run. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Should Masking Last Beyond The Pandemic? Flu And Colds Are Down, Spurring A Debate
A CVS pharmacist gives the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to a resident at the Emerald Court senior living community in Anaheim, Calif., in January. Federal health officials have revised advice on nursing home visitations for the first time since September. Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group via Getty Images hide caption
Agnes Boisvert, an ICU nurse at St. Luke's hospital in downtown Boise, Idaho, spends every day trying to navigate between two worlds. One is a swirl of beeping monitors, masked emotion and death; the other, she says, seems oblivious to the horrors occurring every hour of every day. Isabel Seliger for NPR hide caption
As new, more transmissible variants of the coronavirus spread, the CDC says wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mask offers increased protection against the virus. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Tie the ear loops close to the edges of the mask and tuck in the side pleats to minimizes gaps (left). Or use a hair clip to hold the ear loops tightly at the back of the head to achieve a tighter seal. Michele Abercrombie/NPR hide caption
A health worker holds an N95 respirator in the emergency room at OakBend Medical Center in Richmond, Texas, in July. N95s are tested and approved by a federal agency as having demonstrated that they can filter out a minimum of 95% of airborne particles. Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
South Korea's KF94 mask does a good job concealing the Mona Lisa's smile — but how effective is it at preventing coronavirus spread? Here, masked pedestrians stroll through a shopping district in Seoul. Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images hide caption
There's plenty of social distance out on the slopes, but resorts are requiring masks in lift lines and lodges and limiting lodge use. Most skiers and boarders are happy to comply but Schweitzer Mountain in Idaho had to suspend season passes for some who refused to wear masks and were verbally abusive to lift line attendants. Schweitzer Mountain Resort hide caption
Ski Down and Mask Up — Resorts Try To Stay Safe In Pandemic Skiing Boom
Staff and residents of the Ararat Nursing Facility in the Mission Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles got COVID-19 shots on Jan. 7. Coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths have been surging throughout Los Angeles County. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption
