Only 1 State Still Has A Face Mask Mandate: Here’s Why

Only one U.S. state has yet to roll back its face mask mandate in the wake of declining COVID cases and hospitalizations across the country.

Hawaii continues to remain the lone U.S. state to keep its indoor mask requirement in place as the rest of the country lifts or is letting its current mask mandates expire in the coming days.

Hawaii, which has 76.2% of its residents fully vaccinated, has seen its COVID cases drop by 64% from Feb. 5 to Feb. 18.

But Gov. David Ige told KITV, an ABC affiliate out of Honolulu, that he is working with the Department of Health to determine “when the time is right” for Hawaii to lift its mask mandate.

He told the news outlet, “Hawaii ranks second [to last] in the nation when it comes to COVID deaths, in part because of the indoor mask requirement and other measures that have proven successful in protecting our community from this potentially deadly virus.

“We base our decisions on science, with the health and safety of our community as the top priority.”

As of Monday, the state reported 206 new COVID cases. Statewide there have been over 234,500 COVID cases and 1,304 COVID-related deaths, according to the Hawaii Department of Health.

Since the start of the pandemic, Hawaii has had strict guidelines in place to prevent the spread of the virus by requiring visitors to show proof of vaccination, have a negative COVID test or undergo mandatory quarantine.

The average COVID positivity rate in Hawaii is 4.1%, with a daily average of cases sitting at 341, the Health Department reported Monday.