Durham Reporter

Even though some people credit masks with curtailing the spread of the COVID-19 virus, Gov. Roy Cooper has asked counties and schools to end the indoor mask mandates throughout the state of North Carolina.

"Throughout the pandemic, we've continually evaluated safety measures to know what's needed at that moment,” Sadie Weiner, the governor’s spokeswoman, told ABC11 in a Thursday report. “Given declining numbers and available vaccines, the governor will encourage ending local mask mandates." 

Across the state, the number of coronavirus cases has dropped to a seven-day rolling average of about 4,800 on Thursday. That was down from a peak of close to 30,000 in mid-January, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services statistics show. 

Thursday's news was met with muted reaction. Some contend it's still too soon to be removing masks, especially since many children remain unvaccinated and masks are an effective way to help protect them.

Some school districts had already rescinded the mask mandate, but many in the Triangle were still requiring them, ABC11 reported.

While some people have said it's just too soon to unmask children, citing the fact that many aren't vaccinated, others have been critical of many COVID-19 mitigation efforts. In the wake of a Johns Hopkins University report that found the lockdowns ineffective at curtailing death, according to medicaleconomics.com, ABC11 reports that evaluations are being done to see if mask mandates, lockdowns, and other restrictions have done more harm than good.