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Data released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that Covid-19 levels have dropped significantly enough that more than 90 percent of people in the U.S. can go without masks. The updated data, which show that nearly everyone in the country lives in areas with low to medium risk for Covid, were released days after the agency issued new guidance that tweaked how it measured that risk. (Stelloh, 3/3)

The NFL and the NFL Players Association announced Wednesday they have agreed to suspend all COVID-19 protocols going into the 2022 football season, effective immediately. In a memo released by the league, both the NFL and the players' association announced the suspension, meaning the NFL will no longer conduct mandatory testing for any of its players and staff. The league cites the "encouraging trends regarding the prevalence and severity of COVID-19, the evolving guidance from the CDC, changes to state law and the counsel of our respective experts" as reasons for the change in COVID protocols. (Franklin, 3/3)

Los Angeles County has officially exited the high coronavirus community level, as calculated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meaning it will lift its indoor mask order Friday. L.A. County was determined to be in a low coronavirus community level, according to CDC data published Thursday afternoon. Local health officials had been waiting for the CDC’s update before acting. Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer confirmed Thursday that the county will issue a new health order — effective Friday — that will lift the indoor mask order, regardless of vaccination status, in places such as bars, stores, offices, restaurants, gyms and movie theaters. (Lin II and Money, 3/3)

Vermont is going mask-optional as of March 14, based on its low COVID-19 hospitalization rates and the majority of its population being vaccinated. “The decision to wear a mask will be up to each person based on their own circumstances and health needs,” Patsy Kelso, state epidemiologist, said at Gov. Phil Scott’s weekly news conference on Thursday. (3/3)

Face masks will be optional for U.S. union auto workers, as long as their factories are in counties that are not at high risk for the novel coronavirus. A task force of officials from Ford, General Motors, Stellantis and the United Auto Workers union decided to drop a mask requirement at a meeting on Thursday. (3/4)

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is using a viral video of him chiding masked students to solicit campaign contributions. “The political science show cannot go on,” he tweeted on Thursday from his political account with a campaign-style video that criticizes Democrats who have been seen at recent public events without masks. “It’s curtain call for Covid theater.” DeSantis, who has long been critical of mask wearing and the federal response to the Covid-19 pandemic, told the students Wednesday at a cybersecurity announcement at the University of South Florida in Tampa that they did not need to wear masks. Several of the students removed them. (Crooks, 3/3)