Target no longer requires employees and customers to wear masks as daily COVID-19 case numbers fall in the US

• Target said it has lifted its mask requirement for employees and customers.
• Daily COVID-19 cases in the US have fallen 90% from a peak of 1.34 million in January.

Target has lifted its mask requirement for employees and customers, the retailer said on its website.

"As COVID-19 cases continue to decline across the country, Target will not require our US team members or guests to wear masks, as local regulations allow," the retail chain announced on Monday.

"Target's safety and cleaning measures like offering masks for guests, increasing safety and disinfecting measures, encouraging social distancing and more will remain," Target told Insider in an email.

Target is the seventh-largest retailer in the world by sales, according to the National Retail Federation. It has 1,926 stores in the US and employs about 409,000 people.

Target's dropping of its mask mandate comes as COVID-19 cases fall in the US. The country reported 121,906 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, down 90% from a peak of 1.34 million cases on January 10, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The move comes after Walmart — the largest private employer in the US — lifted its mask requirement for vaccinated employees last week.

The move also follows the recent lifting of indoor mask mandates in New York and for vaccinated individuals in California.

In its statement to Insider, Target said it will reevaluate its COVID-19 response as needed.