ATLANTA — People in Atlanta are no longer required to wear a mask indoors.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced she is lifting the city's mask mandate on Monday evening.
The Atlanta mayor took to Twitter to share the news, stating the city has now moved to the green zone for COVID-19. According to the city's reopening phase guidelines, being in the 'green zone' means — over the course of 10 days — city cases average between 20-75, hospitalizations average between 50-200, and diagnostic test positivity is between 1-5%.
With the COVID vaccine being widely available for people, now including children, in the state, Georgia has made major strides in the fight against the virus.
"Hospitals are not full of COVID patients," said Emory’s Dr. Carlos Del Rio, who helped the city come up with the color-coding system. "It's time to lift up the restrictions and this is the right move."
However, Del Rio added that we should get used to mandates coming and going.
"I think we need to get used to periods of masking and unmasking depending on what the pandemic is doing," he said
While Bottoms is lifting the city-wide mask mandate, she said people will still be required to wear masks in all city facilities.
She also added she's still a little uneasy about the decision.
"While it makes me personally anxious, I've always said we'd follow the science," Bottoms stated in the Tweet.
The mayor continued, urging Atlanta residents to "please get vaccinated" against COVID-19.
As of Monday, only 50% of Georgians were reported to be fully vaccinated, 6% in between doses, and 44% still unvaccinated.
Del Rio also pointed out that the color-coding system is like a weather report; just because there's a low chance of rain, doesn't mean you should completely forget about an umbrella.