In some blue states, masks are coming off -- but not everyone is ready

In some liberal states, masks are coming off -- but not everyone is ready.

Governors in New Jersey, California, Delaware, Connecticut and Oregon have all said that they are lifting masking requirements in some indoor settings. All but California have set deadlines to end required masking in schools. The governors pointed to Covid-19 case rates that have fallen precipitously after Omicron's peak, the hospitalization rates that have stabilized or high vaccination rates in their states.

But the Biden administration still recommends masking indoors -- a position that has long put it in conflict with some Republican-led states, and now with several Democrat-led ones. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, too, has not changed its guidance, and continues to recommend mask-wearing in schools, regardless of vaccination status.