A month after its omicron surge began, Eagle County has decided not to extend its emergency indoor mask order, which expired Monday.

The county’s board of health instituted the order, with a Jan. 17 expiration date, three days before Christmas, as the omicron variant surged into the area and sent positivity rates skyrocketing above 30%. But the situation has improved since, the county wrote in a Friday news release.

“The changes come as local circumstances slowly improve; new cases have begun to decline and there is reduced strain on all business sectors, importantly health and medical,” the statement read. “Businesses and organizations may institute their own policies requiring vaccines or face coverings which will continue to be supported by the public health department.”

The county announced it was extending its mask requirement for pre-K through eighth grade students until Jan. 21. The county government still requires staff and customers to be masked in county-owned facilities, until cases drop below 500 per 100,000.

The county – along with neighbors Pitkin and Summit counties – was one of the first to experience the omicron surge in Colorado. Cases skyrocketed in short order: The county averaged 15.4 new cases per day for the week ending Dec. 12. By Dec. 17, a month ago, it was 39.29. Three days before New Year’s, it had shot up to 219.29. The New York Times identified Eagle County – plus its neighbors – as one of the four hottest COVID-19 spots in the country. 

The seven-day incidence rate in Eagle County has also improved, although it remains high: According to the county’s COVID-19 dashboard, the incidence rate is now 2,066 over the past week; that’s down from an average 2,398 from the past month. The average number of new cases reported daily has also dropped. The average positivity rate over the past week is still above 30% but has dipped five percentage points.

Pitkin is still rated as the county with the second-highest, per-100,000 case rate in the country.

Summit County also instituted a mask order amid the surge, which will remain in effect – as the order is written now – until Jan. 31. Pitkin County has had a long-standing order. 

Though health officials statewide and nationally have warned that much remains unknown about omicron, they broadly expect surges to fall quickly, given how fast they skyrocketed. Omicron is also understood to cause less severe disease, lessening the threat to intensive care capacity.