ATLANTA — Mayor Andre Dickens announced the city is easing back some COVID-19 restrictions, which includes lifting Atlanta's indoor mask mandate for most places.
The news follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's announcement on Friday, where health officials outlined a new set of measures for communities where COVID-19 is easing its grip, with less of a focus on positive test results and more on what’s happening at hospitals.
City officials said most of the restrictions the mayor is lifting have been in place from the onset of the pandemic in 2020.
While the city's indoor mask mandate has been lifted, they are still required at public meetings and programs in city facilities. Officials added that public agencies affiliated with the city -- such as Invest Atlanta, Atlanta Housing, Atlanta BeltLine, Inc., etc. -- will also resume in-person meetings.
“Advances in life-saving vaccines, downward trends in cases and—most importantly—the vigilance and resilience of the Atlanta community have all brought us to this new space of hope,” Dickens said in a news release.
“As we continue to rely on data and science, Atlanta remains forever grateful for our public health professionals, our healthcare workers and our frontline workers who continue to give their all so that we may begin this optimistic path toward our new normal.” He said.
The moratorium on residential evictions and filings for housing units and developments sponsored or funded by Atlanta Housing Authority and a few other groups remains in effect.
Some of the other changes impacts other city facilities that are open to the public. Atlanta is aiming to resume rentals of city facilities and some activities with the hopes of gradually reaching full capacity over the next few months, if the downward trends continue.
City officials are still encouraging residents to get vaccinated against the virus to help with mitigation efforts.
With protection from immunity rising — both from vaccination and infection — the overall risk of severe disease is now generally lower, the CDC said. Read more about the CDC's updated guidelines here.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.