As of Thursday, Oct. 28 at 12:01 am, Montgomery County suspended its mandate that makes mask wearing mandatory in indoor public spaces. According to Montgomery County officials, “despite the mandate being lifted, businesses and other organizations can continue to require customers or visitors to wear a mask in their establishments.” Montgomery County still recommends the wearing of masks/face coverings in publicly accessible areas for all staff and visitors in County government offices.
The mandate lift does not apply to any of the MCPS schools as mask wearing in the school buildings is still mandatory. The CDC still recommends unvaccinated individuals to wear masks in indoor public areas. Students at Walter Johnson have expressed their feelings about the changes that will come with the mandate being lifted.
“Around here you don’t really notice cause everyone’s like a bunch of smart people so they still wear them [masks]… I don’t think it’s that big of a deal around here, also we’re largely vaccinated,” junior Alyssa Manchester said.
“I’m a little iffy about that cause like we were getting better, like we are getting better, but if we take off our masks there’s a possibility that there could be another peak again… so I hope people keep wearing their masks,” sophomore Emily Mu said.
