US colleges reinstate mask requirements, but expert says 'the time for mask mandates is gone'
Categories: US Education News
Several colleges and universities across the nation are reinstating mask mandates amid a "significant increasAn announcement to the campus community on April 6 by Georgetown University states a "significant increase" in COVID-19 cases is forcing the university to reinstate the indoor mask requirement."
We are taking these steps in response to a significant increase in COVID-19 cases on the Main Campus and Medical Center campuses this week, particularly among undergraduate students," the announcement states.
"This increase is partly due to the impact of the BA.2 omicron subvariant. BA.2 is now the dominant strain in the United States, including in DC and on our campuses. While recent studies show that BA.2 does not cause more severe illness than the initial omicron variant, they also show that BA.2 is even more transmissible."
"We remain in low-risk or green status based on Columbia’s COVID-19 monitoring plan and so does New York City based on its designated risk levels. Over the past few weeks there has been an uptick in the number of COVID-19 cases in New York City and not surprisingly in the percent positivity in our own surveillance testing program," the announcement states.
An April American University announcement states that masks are being required "in all campus buildings," except private offices, residence hall rooms, or when actively eating and drinking. "The fact that that age group is not at much risk for severe disease, that makes me want to have almost no mandates. Mandates should be reserved for high volume situation for risky disease that we're moving away from that," Siegel said.