The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has dramatically eased its Covid-19 guidelines for when Americans should wear masks indoors, including in schools, a move that means 72 per cent of the population will reside in communities where indoor face coverings are no longer recommended.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said during a media briefing that travellers will still need to wear masks on airplanes, trains and buses and at airports and train stations for now, according to a Reuters report.

The CDC said universal school masking would now be advised only in communities with a “high” level of Covid-19. The earlier recommendation advised masking in schools no matter the level of Covid transmission.