Americans will soon not have to cover their faces with masks in public.
US President Joe Biden, speaking on Tuesday, announced that citizens vaccinated against Covid-19 people can now go to the park or a picnic with friends without donning masks.
He cited the loosened restrictions as a reason to get vaccinated but stressed that Americans should still wear masks in more crowded outdoor settings.
“I want to be clear: If you’re in a crowd like a stadium or at a concert, you still need to wear a mask, even if you’re outside,” he said in a speech at the White House.
As of Monday, more than 140 million Americans, or 42.5 percent of the total population, had received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine.
Roughly 95.8 million Americans, or 28.9 percent of the population, are fully vaccinated.
Biden spoke on the day the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended the easing of restrictions on wearing masks in public.
Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, the CDC had been advising Americans to wear masks outdoors if they are within 6 feet of each other.
The change comes as more than half of U.S. adults have gotten at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, and more than a third have been fully vaccinated.
