GREENSBORO, N.C. — North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper suggested it's time to shift the focus away from mask mandates in schools on Thursday.
During a tour of the International Civil Rights Center and Museum in Greensboro, Cooper spoke briefly about mask guidance in schools.
"I think it's time to take our focus off masks and refocus on improving our schools and making them better," Cooper said.
The discussion on mask guidance Thursday comes as more school districts make decisions on mandates for students.
“I encourage schools and local governments to end their mask mandates,” Cooper said during Thursday's briefing. “Parents still might want children to wear masks inside schools, businesses may still want their employees to wear masks, but most importantly people need to know is vaccines provide protection against virus transmission, deaths, and hospitalizations.”
Cooper is encouraging North Carolina schools to end their mask mandates and has hopes districts will work towards voluntary masking by March 7.
Health officials say the majority of North Carolinians who are hospitalized with COVID-19 are those who have not been vaccinated.
"This (ending mask mandates in schools) has been a topic of discussion as well as steps we are working to get people vaccinated," Cooper said. "It is the unvaccinated who are experiencing the vast majority of COVID deaths. We have learned how to protect ourselves and each other from serious illness due to COVID. Now we take a positive step on mask requirements to help us move safely toward a more normal day-to-day life."
Officials said the most effective tools in the fight against COVID-19 are vaccines and boosters.
Cooper and North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services secretary Kody Kinsley gave the update on the state’s COVID-19 metrics and trends.
"This pandemic has been difficult for all of us. It’s been particularly tough on parents, teachers, and school children," Cooper said. "North Carolinians have weathered this storm with the resilience that has always defined us. As we continue to shake the cobwebs of this virus and work to get more people vaccinated, our eyes are on a very bright horizon."
Health officials said as North Carolina’s COVID-19 metrics continue to move in the right direction and with vaccines widely available, and hospitalizations decreasing, Cooper is encouraging schools and local governments to end the mandates.
“It’s time to focus on getting our children a good education and improving our schools, no matter how you feel about masks," Cooper said.
The briefing also comes as the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services recently made changes to its school safety guidelines last week. The updated guidelines to the Strong Schools NC Public Health Toolkit, give school districts guidance for managing COVID-19 and masking recommendations.
"Universal masking is not the strategy, vaccines are the strategy," Kinsley said.
He said the March 7 recommendation date gives people time to get vaccinated and assess exactly what to do to keep people protected from COVID-19 within their community.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said the new set of guidelines focuses on strategies most effective at this stage of the pandemic. That includes vaccines, boosters, testing and masking, and it no longer recommends individual contact tracing in K-12 schools.
Another recommendation includes students and staff no longer being required to stay home from school following a COVID-19 exposure unless they have symptoms or test positive.
A new bill filed in the North Carolina General Assembly would give parents the right to opt-out of student mask mandates for their children.
Senate Bill 671, announced by House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland County), will be heard Thursday by the House Education Committee. Moore said the bill was filed in response to North Carolina health officials not updating mask guidance last week as part of its updated COVID-19 toolkit for schools.
Currently, North Carolina school districts are allowed to make their own mask policies.
"Everyone five and older should get a COVID-19 vaccine and everyone 12 and older should get a booster as soon as they are eligible. It’s not too late to vaccinate," Kinsley said.