San Diego Unified School District is bringing back indoor mask mandates for all students and staff starting this coming week.
The report was confirmed late Friday evening, which comes as no surprise after the C.D.C. reported that San Diego County is now on high alert in the spread of COVID-19.
Just two month ago in May, the school district announced that they would go back to requiring indoor masks if the county were to be considered high risk of the virus. And now, two month later there's reports saying hospitalizations in the county has spiked to the highest rist level as of Thursday.
The mask mandates will kick-in as of this coming Monday, July 18.
According to a letter sent to SDUSD staff, if one does not have a mask on campus, the schools will provide one to fulfill the new mandate being set in place.
"If you are working at a central office or summer school site, please be sure to wear your mask indoors. Masks will be provided for those who need them. Students and staff will be required to wear their masks while indoors only," a letter to district staffers stated.
Sharon McKeeman, founder of the anti-mask mandate group Let Them Breathe, said the new mandates will make no difference in the transmission of COVID rates, and that their group and and local families with the same stance on the matter will oppose these mandates.
“San Diego Unified’s return to masking Monday July 18th is not supported by science and will be harmful to students in summer school who are trying to recuperate from learning loss incurred during school closures. Studies show that masking children makes NO difference in transmission rates, but it does harm social and linguistic development. Let Them Breathe and local families will oppose any returns to forced masking and SDUSD needs to follow the science and revise their policy," McKeeman said in a statement.
