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Passengers at Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 10, 2024. Masking was required in commercial airports at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic but is now voluntary.
Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Puerto Rico
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
The last statewide orders broadly requiring people to wear masks in indoor public places ended in early 2022. Several state and local governments continued to mandate face-covering in high-risk settings such as health care and long-term care facilities into 2023, but those orders have almost all lapsed.
The U.S. government's nationwide mask order for public transit, commercial flights and transportation hubs such as airports and train stations formally expired May 11, 2023, with the end of federal public health emergency. It had not been enforced for more than a year due to an April 2022 court order.
Over the course of the pandemic, 39 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia had orders at some point broadly requiring people to wear masks in public. Eleven states did not impose mandates at any point. Several states have moved via legislation or executive action to prevent local governments and school districts from doing so.
The Navaho Nation, the largest U.S. tribal nation, ended its mask mandate Jan. 20, 2023. The order had been in effect across the Navajo reservation, which covers more than 27,000 square miles in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, for nearly three years.
Some states now direct health care workers to follow CDC guidance on mask use in medical settings and nursing homes. In most places, business or private entities may set their own mask policies where there are no state, local or tribal requirements. Amid the rise of new coronavirus variants and seasonal spikes in respiratory illnesses generally, some hospitals and health systems have reinstituted mask requirements for staff and visitors, particularly in patient-care areas.
Alabama
Alabama's mask mandate expired April 9, 2021. The state Department of Public Health recommends face-covering in public as part of its COVID-19 safety guidance. Municipal mask mandates in Birmingham and Montgomery expired in May 2021.
Learn more: Read Alabama Public Health's COVID-19 information page.
Alaska
Mask orders covering state government facilities and the Alaska State Capitol building ended in May 2021. A mask mandate in Anchorage, the state's largest city, was rescinded the same month. The capital city of Juneau downgraded its indoor mask requirement to a recommendation in February 2022.
Learn more: See the Alaska Department of Health's information page on COVID-19 on other coronaviruses.
Arizona
Then-Gov. Doug Ducey issued an executive order in March 2021 lifting all state COVID-19 restrictions on businesses and restricting local governments' ability to impose and enforce face-covering orders. State law prohibits mask mandates in buildings run by state or local governments and bars school districts and local governments from requiring anyone under age 18 to mask up without the consent of a parent or guardian.
Learn more: See the Arizona Department of Health Services' COVID-19 guidance for members of the public.
Arkansas
Then-Gov. Asa Hutchinson lifted his 8-month-old mask mandate March 31, 2021. Health officials continue to recommend that Arkansans wear masks in public when unable to maintain 6 feet of distance from people outside their households. A state law barring local governments from imposing mask orders, enacted in April 2021, was struck down by an Arkansas judge later that year.
Learn more: Read the Arkansas health department's COVID-19 guidance.
California
Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted California's general indoor mask mandate March 1, 2022. A mask order covering health care and long-term care facilities, correctional facilities, and homeless and emergency shelters ended April 3, 2023.
Several Bay Area jurisdictions require masking for staff (and, in some regions, visitors) at health care facilities during respiratory illness season, from Nov. 1 through March 31. During this period, face-covering is required for anyone entering a health care facility in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties; for health care workers in Alameda, Contra Costa and Napa counties and the city of Berkeley; and for nursing home staff in San Francisco.
Learn more: Read the California Department of Public Health's mask guidance.
Colorado
Gov. Jared Polis ended Colorado’s statewide mandate May 14, 2021. Health care and long-term care facilities are directed to follow the CDC guidance on masking.
Learn more: Read the Colorado health department's COVID-19 guidance.
Connecticut
Gov. Ned Lamont lifted Connecticut's general face-covering order for indoor public places on Feb. 28, 2022. A mask requirement for health care settings, long-term care facilities and shelters ended April 15, 2022. The cities of New Haven and Bridgeport ended indoor mask mandates in early 2022.
Learn more: Read Connecticut’s COVID-19 guidance.
Delaware
Gov. John Carrey's indoor mask order was lifted Feb. 11, 2022. Staff at medical and long-term care facilities are directed to follow CDC face-covering guidelines.
Learn more: Read Delaware's face-covering guidance.
District of Columbia
The District's order requiring masks for people over age 2 in most indoor public places ended March 1, 2022. Mandates for specific settings were phased out over the remainder of that year. The only current requirement is for masking in health care facilities when COVID-19 community levels are high, according to DC Health, the District's public-health agency.
Learn more: Read the District's mask guidance.
Florida
A law passed by the state legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in May 2023 permanently prohibits private businesses and government entities from imposing mask mandates. Local governments and school systems were already barred from establishing mask rules and other COVID-19 restrictions under a May 2021 gubernatorial order.
Learn more: Read the Florida health department's guidance on respiratory illnesses.
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