Beijing’s Center for Disease Control (Beijing CDC) announced at a press conference Thursday that mask-wearing will no longer be necessary for outdoor exercise.

The announcement comes one week after Beijing reduced its risk status from level one to level two, and subsequently allowed visitors to enter Beijing without the need to quarantine.

Although wearing a mask while exercising outdoors isn't necessarily unhealthy for most people, it can be quite uncomfortable and make breathing somewhat more difficult.

The new guidelines allow Beijingers to go maskless when playing non-contact sports such as running, badminton, or tennis. It is not appropriate to organize contact sports like basketball or football at this time, municipal CDC officials specified. They also emphasized that masks should be worn while entering and exiting sporting facilities.

Additional guidelines include sanitizing your hands before and after using sports equipment and avoiding chatting during breaks.

At the same time, the importance of mask-wearing and keeping a distance on the city’s subways was reiterated. Though the virus has largely been eradicated within Beijing, officials said that the ongoing epidemic outside of China calls for continued caution in situations where people are closely gathered together.

Meanwhile, the press conference also included an announcement that Beijing's cinemas, KTV bars, internet cafés, and gaming halls will remain closed until further notice, while parks, museums, art galleries, and libraries will gradually be allowed to open, though we recommend calling ahead to ensure that they're allowing foreigners.