Face off

THE CENTERS for Disease Control no longer recommends that everybody in your doctor’s office wear a face mask. According to The Hill, the agency “quietly” issued the update late Friday afternoon. That’s usually when politicians and government agencies release something they don’t really want to talk about.

Unless your particular county is in a “high” covid-19 transmission area, you can safely visit a hospital or dentist or family physician without somebody at the door handing you a mask.

“Updates were made to reflect the high levels of vaccine- and infection-induced immunity and the availability of effective treatments and prevention tools,” the CDC says.

But the key is whether your area is rife with covid, or just semi-rife. Only 7 percent of the counties in America are considered high risk at this point.

There are exceptions for immunocompromised folks, and your local doctor’s office can require masks if it wants to. But the government is loosening up its rules.

The president of the United States recently declared the pandemic over. Unfortunately, he can’t make that so, not just with words from on high. But with every bit of news like the kind from Friday afternoon, we’re getting closer.