The last remaining statewide mask requirement in the country ended in Hawaii on March 26. Governor David Ige (D) announced the end of the requirement on March 8, bookending a series of 10 other states ending their mask requirements throughout February and March.
Since New Jersey enacted the first statewide mask requirement in response to the coronavirus pandemic on April 10, 2020, Ballotpedia has tracked such requirements across the 50 states.
Thirty-nine states implemented statewide mask requirements over the course of the pandemic, 17 of which currently have Republican governors, and 22 have Democratic governors. Five states with Democratic governors that allowed a statewide order to fully expire later reinstated a mask order. One state (New York) had its mask requirement overturned by a court then reinstated by higher court action the same day. Thirty-six states ended mask requirements through executive order, two (Kansas and Utah) ended mask requirements through legislative action, and one (Wisconsin) ended its mandate through a court order.
The chart below shows the total number of days each state had a mask requirement in place since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
Highlights:
- New Jersey issued the first statewide mask requirement on April 10, 2020.
- Mississippi had the shortest mask requirement, lasting 56 days.
- The shortest statewide mask requirement in a state with a Democratic governor was in Wisconsin, which lasted 242 days.
- The longest statewide mask requirement was in Hawaii, which lasted 704 days.
- The longest statewide mask requirement in a state with a Republican governor was in Maryland, which lasted 393 days.
