Starting Monday, if you go into a bar, restaurant or other business in D.C., you won’t be required to mask up, after Mayor Muriel Bowser announced last week that she’s lifting the indoor mask mandate.
In D.C.’s Adams Morgan neighborhood, reaction was split.
“I think it’s good that we’re getting with the times. I think it's a different time than July 2020. The majority of the city is vaccinated and I think we’re ready,” one person said.
People won’t need to wear masks in places such as grocery stores, restaurants, gyms, live music venues, offices or places of worship.
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Masks will still be required on public transportation, in schools and at daycare centers. Individual businesses will have the authority to require masks.
The mayor and some council members are at odds over lifting the indoor mandate.
Ten of the council’s 13 members sent a letter to the mayor last week urging her to reconsider. They said dropping the mandate will send the wrong message, and that it gambles with the safety of the most vulnerable.
Bowser showed no sign of changing her mind, saying masks will go from a requirement to a recommendation.
"I could, and I could also refer to the ten times they asked us when we were going to lift the mask mandate," she said.
Others still say it’s too soon.
“I think we should continue wearing masks until this thing gets behind us, and until all the unvaccinated wise up and get vaccinated,” one person said.
