Anchorage revokes mask mandate; Juneau eases mask rules

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Anchorage Assembly voted Friday to immediately revoke the city’s mask mandate, shortly after Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson’s office announced the mandate would lift next week.

The assembly voted 8-1 in a special meeting to revoke a mandate that has been in place since June, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

Earlier Friday, Quinn-Davidson’s office announced plans to revoke the mandate on May 21, a delay it said was intended to protect students through the end of the school year.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday released guidance allowing people who are fully vaccinated to stop wearing masks outdoors in crowds and in most indoor settings. The federal guidance calls for masks on planes, buses and other forms of public transportation and at airports.

Quinn-Davidson’s office said people who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 are encouraged to wear masks. Applying a mask mandate only to those who are not vaccinated would have created enforcement challenges and issues for businesses, the statement said.

Her office also said businesses in Anchorage still can require mask-wearing.

In Juneau, restrictions remain for those not fully vaccinated. Those who are fully vaccinated no longer have to wear masks in indoor public areas or at crowded outdoor events and do not have to wear masks at gyms, under revised rules announced Friday.

Masks are required regardless of vaccination status in Juneau in places like the hospital, school district facilities and other settings that choose to require them, according to a statement from the city.