COVID updates: Hawaii is only state to not announce plans to lift mask mandates

Every other state has lifted or announced plans to lift mandates.

ByEmily Shapiro, Morgan Winsor, Meredith Deliso, Ivan Pereira, and Mary Kekatos
Last Updated: February 21, 2022, 1:28 AM EST

As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe, more than 5.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, including over 934,000 Americans, according to real-time data compiled by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

About 64.6% of the population in the United States is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Feb 14, 2022, 7:37 AM EST

Walmart drops mask requirement for vaccinated workers 

Walmart employees in the U.S. who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will no longer be required to wear masks.  

"Unvaccinated associates will be required to continue wearing masks until further notice," company officials said in a memo obtained by ABC News. 

Friday's policy update was effective immediately for most employees, aside from those working in regions where state or local rules require retail staff to wear masks, the memo said. Associates working in clinical settings or with patients will also still be required to wear masks.

 

A shopping cart sits outside a Walmart store in Amsterdam, N.Y., May 15, 2020.
Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE

“We will continue to monitor the situation and advise of any changes,” the memo said. 

The company, the largest private retail employer in the U.S., will also end its COVID-19 emergency leave policy for most employees at the end of March, the memo said.  

ABC News' Caroline Rotante and Matt Foster

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