More US states have announced plans to drop mask mandates amid continued high levels of new Covid-19 cases nationwide and increasing variant infections, drawing criticism from health experts.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey announced on Thursday that she would lift her state’s mask mandate in about a month, Xinhua news agency reported.

In a statement, she said that beginning on April 9, wearing masks will be “a matter of personal responsibility and not a government mandate”.

On Tuesday, the Governors of Texas and Mississippi announced that they would halt mask mandates and reopen their states, allowing businesses to operate at full capacity.

Earlier this month, Iowa and Montana Governors announced they would lift social distancing measures and mask mandates. Meanwhile, North Dakota’s mask mandate which was implemented in November 2020 expired in January. Officials did not renew it due to a drop in cases and hospitalisations, while allowing for local safety protocols to be enacted. These states have now joined more than a dozen others that never mandated the usage of face coverings.