New Jersey to lift in-school mask mandate beginning March 7

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy will be lifting the in-school mask mandate for all students and kids in child care settings, a spokesperson for the governor confirmed Monday.

The spokesperson, Mahen Gunaratna, said that starting March 7, New Jersey students in grades K-12 and those in a childcare setting will not be required to mask up.

The governor plans to officially announce the lifting of the mandate at his regular briefing in Trenton, the New York Times first reported. The governor's briefing is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Background: New Jersey is one of the last blue states with an in-school mask mandate in place. It was also one of the hardest hit states in the early days of the pandemic, making Murphy’s Covid-19 decision making a bit more cautious than some of his neighboring governors.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, said schools in his state would be able to modify or remove their mask mandates as of last month.

Lifting of the mask mandate was not wholly unexpected in New Jersey. Murphy had been hinting for weeks that he saw the end of the school mask requirement coming sometime this school year.

New Jersey teachers are required to be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing though school employees are not required to get booster shots.