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

Switzerland will drop most COVID-19 restrictions on Thursday, including remote work requirements and masks requirements in offices, shops and restaurants, officials announced. Through March 31, masks will still be required on public transportation and in health care settings.

In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday announced plans to drop most restrictions by March 20.

Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer said the country will begin to lift restrictions on Feb. 19 and most restrictions will be dropped by March 5. Masks will still be required in some public places. Austria is the only country in Europe mandating vaccines for all adults.

The Associated Press reported that Slovakia plans to gradually ease most restrictions by the end of February.

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou

Philadelphia officials on Wednesday introduced a new tiered system to help determine when COVID-19 mitigation measures can be lifted or reimplemented, if necessary, based on the city's key virus metrics.

The response system is broken down by four defined levels: Level 4: Extreme Caution; Level 3: Caution; Level 2: Mask Precautions; and Level 1: All Clear.

The city currently falls under the "Level 2: Mask Precautions," meaning masks are still mandated for all indoor places, but proof of vaccination is no longer required for indoor restaurants and bars.

Should metrics decline even further, under the "all clear" category, masks will no longer be required indoors, except for places like schools and public transportation.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Updated mask guidance from the CDC is expected to come as early as next week, officials confirmed to ABC News.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky did not elaborate on the timing at Wednesday's White House briefing, only saying the CDC could "soon" update its guidance.

“We are looking at all of our guidance based not only on where we are right now in the pandemic, but also on the tools we now have at our disposal -- such as vaccines, boosters, tests and treatments -- and our latest understanding of the disease,” Walensky said. “We want to give people a break from things like mask wearing when these metrics are better and then have the ability to reach for them again should things worsen.” 

Walensky added, "Omicron cases are declining and we are all cautiously optimistic about the trajectory we are on ... but we want to remain vigilant to do all we can so that this trajectory continues."

Walensky also stressed that it is still critical for Americans to continue to wear masks if they are symptomatic, have been recently exposed or if they are 10 days post-COVID-19 diagnosis.

-ABC News' Anne Flaherty,  Arielle Mitropoulos

Forecast models used by the CDC suggest that daily COVID-19 fatalities will finally begin to fall in the U.S. in the weeks to come.

The ensemble model estimates that only eight states have a greater than 50% chance of having more deaths over the next two weeks compared to the past two weeks, and two states and territories have a greater than 75% chance of seeing an increase.

The models predict the U.S. death toll will be at approximately 968,000 by March 12.

The CDC obtains the forecasts from the COVID-19 Forecast Hub at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where a team monitors and combines forecasting models from the nation’s top researchers. The team then creates an ensemble -- displayed like a hurricane forecast spaghetti plot -- usually with a wide cone of uncertainty.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos