California Health Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly announced today that California will continue its current school masking mandate, will reassess the mandate on February 28, and hinted that lifting the mandate is likely if current data trends hold. The announcement came as the state is removing its general masking mandate for public settings, shifting from a mandatory masking to an official “strongly recommended” stance after February 15 for most public settings. Masking mandates will remain in place after February 15 for schools, childcare, health care, long-term care, and corrections facilities.