In an effort to align with new guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Park Service has updated its COVID-19 mask rules to allow for variations based on local conditions.
The new policy, announced Friday, will incorporate the CDC's COVID-19 Community Level tool, which "helps communities decide what prevention steps to take," the Park Service said.
The CDC's sweeping policy change opted to stop counting new infections to set safety rules and focus instead on whether local health care systems are in danger of being overwhelmed by severely ill COVID-19 patients. Los Angeles County, for example, dropped into the "low" category on Friday, enabling the county to lift its indoor mask mandate.
