New case numbers and hospitalizations have fallen sharply from the nationwide peak in January. The N.F.L. said in the memo that it would work with the players’ union and medical experts to monitor whether protocols needed to be reimposed in full or in part.
Zachary Binney, a sports epidemiologist at Oxford College of Emory University in Georgia, said the league’s decision was largely in accordance with revised C.D.C. guidelines, though he added that the federal agency’s guidelines still supported indoor mask usage in high-risk areas.
The N.F.L. had a surge of cases during the rise of the Omicron variant in the United States, with more than 1,200 positive tests recorded among players and staff from Dec. 12 to Jan. 8. But the league did not report any positive tests between the divisional round playoff games and the Super Bowl. In the final weeks of the 2021 season, the league dropped testing of asymptomatic players, regardless of vaccination status.
Nearly 95 percent of players and close to 100 percent of team personnel were vaccinated, according to the N.F.L. The league mandated in December that all team staff members who were in close contact with players receive a booster shot. Last month, the league said only about 10 percent of players had been boosted, but that number may have gone up since the end of the season.