Mandates around the globe are ending, but don’t throw out your masks yet. Subscribe and turn on notifications 🔔 so you don't miss any videos: http://goo.gl/0bsAjO Face masks were one of our earliest interventions to slow the spread of Covid-19. For two years we’ve largely relied on local governments and businesses to tell us when and where to wear them, but now those mandates are being lifted. So is it actually safe to take off the masks for good? It depends on who you are and where you are. Cases are dropping in many places around the world after a harsh omicron surge, but some countries are still fighting off deadly waves of the virus. Many public health experts are warning that the pandemic isn’t over yet, even if it feels like it is to some of us. It’s a good idea to hang onto your mask for now, but that doesn’t mean you have to wear it every day for the rest of your life, just that you should take a few key things into consideration. Check out the video above to learn more about risk mitigation as we weather the third year of a pandemic. Some resources for Covid-19 numbers: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-cases.html https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.html Studies on the effectiveness of face masks and mandates: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0252315 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02786826.2020.1862409 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abi9069 https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2015954117 And more from the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/masking-science-sars-cov2.html https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7106e1.htm Make sure you never miss behind the scenes content in the Vox Video newsletter, sign up here: http://vox.com/video-newsletter Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com/ Support Vox's reporting with a one-time or recurring contribution: http://vox.com/contribute-now Shop the Vox merch store: http://vox.com/store Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://facebook.com/vox Follow Vox on Twitter: http://twitter.com/voxdotcom Follow Vox on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@voxdotcom