Mask Mandate Map Shows Where Restrictions Are Being Implemented, Blocked

As the U.S. has seen an increase in COVID-19 cases over the past few weeks, mask mandates are in the news again, prompting Republican governors to vow they will oppose their return.

Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a 15.7 percent increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations from August 20 to 26, compared with the week before. While those hospitalizations are still significantly down from peaks in 2021, the CDC recently released a warning about a new coronavirus variant, BA.2.86, which it said “may be more capable of causing infection in people who have previously had COVID-19 or who have received COVID-19 vaccines.”

Newsweek reached out to the CDC via email for further comment.

In response to the COVID-19 news, some schools and hospitals have announced a return to mask mandates for a specific period. But Republican governors have spoken out against any return to masking in their states.

Newsweek has compiled a list and map of all the states that oppose a return to mask mandates, as well as places that have implemented masking requirements.

States Against Return of Mask Mandates

Texas

Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently signed legislation barring any government agencies from enforcing mask mandates in the state.

“Working with the Texas Legislature, Governor Abbott signed a law this year codifying his executive orders from 2021, prohibiting any government entity from establishing mask or vaccine mandates and from closing businesses or schools due to COVID,” a spokesperson for Abbott’s office told Newsweek last week.

“Thanks to Governor Abbott and the hard work of the Texas Legislature, Texas has closed the door on COVID restrictions,” the spokesperson said.

Arkansas

In a post to X (formerly Twitter) on August 31, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, “As long as I’m governor, Arkansas will never lock down.”

She continued:
”We will never make you or your children wear a mask. And we will never, ever have a COVID-19 vaccine mandate.”

Mississippi

Governor Tate Reeves opposes any return to mask mandates in his state, saying, “Mississippians will not and should not submit to fear again…. We will not return to widespread masking or COVID rules.”

Florida

Governor Ron DeSantis has opposed mask mandates and COVID-19 restrictions since 2020, and during a recent press conference he doubled down on that stance, saying, “You have a civil right in Florida now to breathe fresh air. No one can force you to muzzle yourself against your consent.”

DeSantis also said health officials and the CDC are attempting to encourage mask mandates and COVID-19 restrictions “again,” adding that “what we in the state of Florida will say is ‘no, we are not letting you get away with it again.'”

Oklahoma 



On September 1, Governor Kevin Stitt said that Oklahoma “didn’t do mandates or lockdowns in 2020 and we aren’t starting now.”

“Oklahoma will choose freedom over fear every day of the week,” he said in a post to X.

South Carolina

Republican Governor Henry McMaster spoke to residents on Thursday about the possible return of mask mandates throughout the U.S. and vowed to oppose such action in his state.

“I can assure the people of South Carolina that we are not going to have mandates requiring masks, we’re not going to close down schools, we’re not going to do a lot of the foolish things that were done in other states,” he said on X. “We will not have mask mandates.”

Utah

Earlier this week, Governor Spencer Cox and the Utah Department of Health and Human Services announced that there are no plans in the state to return to masking requirements.

“While we anticipate an increase in COVID-19 during the upcoming respiratory virus season, @utahdhhs has no plans—now or in the future—to enact a mask mandate in Utah,” the department said in a post to X.

Cox echoed that statement, saying, “We have no intention of enacting a mask mandate in Utah.”

Huntington Beach, California

On Wednesday evening, City Council members in Huntington Beach voted to pass a declaration that bans universal mask mandates in the city.

“The city should ban broad universal mask and vaccine mandates by declaring the city to be a ‘no mask, no vaccine mandate city,'” Mayor Pro Tem Gracey Van Der Mark, who proposed the declaration, said at the meeting.

Where Hospitals Have Implemented Mask Mandates:

In New York state, United Health Services, Auburn Community Hospital and Upstate Medical’s hospitals announced that mask wearing will be required for staff, patients and visitors.

In California, health care company Kaiser Permanente is also requiring employees, patients and visitors to wear masks in response to the latest COVID-19 news.

Where Schools Have Implemented Mask Mandates

The Rosemary Hills Elementary School in Maryland sent out a letter to parents this week announcing a mask mandate for students and staff for 10 days. On Thursday, a spokesperson for the Montgomery County Public School District told Newsweek that the mandate was for one kindergarten classroom at the elementary school and will end on September 11.

The Kinterbish Junior High School in Alabama announced on August 21 that students and staff members will be required to wear masks for an indefinite period.

Also in Alabama, officials in Dallas County implemented a masking policy for three government buildings.

Probate Judge Jimmy Nunn announced the policy this week, saying, “At this point in time, it is only being taken effect in the government buildings that the public come into. And that will be the three buildings that we have: the courthouse, the annex and the administrative building. These three buildings in which the public come in and we provide services to the public.”