Hawaii will keep its indoor mask mandate in place despite new federal guidelines issued Friday that allow most of the U.S. population to stop wearing masks.

Gov. David Ige remained firm Friday afternoon on keeping Hawaii’s indoor mask mandate in place, as required under the current COVID-19 emergency proclamation, through its effective date of March 25.

“Hawaii will keep the indoor mask mandate for now,” said Ige in a statement. “We are watching disease activity across the state and globally, especially as other changes are made to current programs across the U.S. and at the county level. We will adjust accordingly.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlined a new set of measures for communities that puts more emphasis on hospitalizations than on positive test results, according to The Associated Press. Based on new risk maps, which are available by county, most of the U.S. population living in low- and medium-threat areas may stop wearing masks.

The CDC’s new color- coded “community level tool” classifies each county as a low- (green), medium- (yellow) or high- (orange) threat area, based on hospitalizations, hospital capacity and cases, with recommended prevention measures.

Most of Hawaii, including Honolulu County, is classified as medium, with some impact on the health care system. Hawaii County is classified as low, with limited impact on the health care system and low levels of severe illness.

For those living in counties classified as medium, the CDC recommends those at high risk for severe illness talk to their health care providers about whether they need to wear a mask and take other precautions.

The CDC, however, recommends wearing a mask indoors in public only for areas classified as high-threat areas.

Also, the CDC said its guidelines are not binding and that cities and institutions in areas of low risk may set their own rules.

“It is important to remember that people may choose to mask at any time,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky in a tweet. “We should all support and encourage efforts that protect those at high risk.”

The CDC said people with symptoms, a positive test or exposure to someone with COVID-19 should wear a mask.

The Aloha State remains the last holdout with a statewide indoor mask mandate in place and no announcement on when it will end.

The state Department of Health said it supports the governor’s decision to keep the mandate in place for now.

DOH spokesman Brooks Baehr credited the state’s mask mandate and high vaccination rate, among other factors, for keeping Hawaii’s death rate the second lowest in the U.S.

“Right now there are several countries in Asia experiencing a real surge in COVID-19,” said Baehr, “and we’re right between the U.S. mainland and some of those Asian cities, so we have to keep a close eye on not only what happens here in the islands, but elsewhere as well.”

Daily case counts, positivity rates and hospitalizations in Hawaii, meanwhile, continue to decline.

On Friday the DOH reported nine virus-related deaths and 311 new infections, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 1,321 fatalities and 235,435 cases.

The seven-day average for new cases was 227, marking a 68% drop from two weeks ago. The average positivity rate was 3.0%.

The number of patients with COVID-19 in hospitals was 94 on Friday, according to the state dashboard. Nine of those patients were in intensive care, with four on ventilators.

More than three-fourths of the state’s population, 76.4%, has completed the primary series of COVID-19 vaccines, according to DOH, while 37.2% is boosted.

Ige lifted an outdoor mask mandate May 25 but has kept the indoor mask mandate in place since at least mid-April 2020.

“The CDC eliminated its mask recommendation once before but was forced to reinstate the indoor mask requirement when the delta variant caused a spike in cases,” said Ige in a statement.

“Hawaii kept its indoor mask requirement in place during that time, protecting residents and preventing the rapid spread of the virus, resulting in the second- lowest COVID fatality rate in the country.”