Written by Lev Finzi
Schools in the San Diego Unified District are starting to carry out a brand new mask mandate that requires students to wear a mask for two weeks under specific situations. The plan for this mandate shall begin this Wednesday, the 25th of May.
The school board has said that these mandates are coming back due to a recent influx in COVID-19 cases. Parents of students received an email from the district that stated the specific situations. At the moment, only specific schools could be considered for these mandates. In this case, an outbreak is considered an individual student catching COVID-19 and they are within the confines of a classroom where others can be infected.
- Within a span of 14 days, or two weeks, a minimum of 3 outbreaks are caught within a classroom environment or a group of students. Following this, over this 14 day period, 5% or more of the school is affected
- Within a 3 day period, a minimum of 10% is not present each day due to sickness
These will be the guidelines followed by specific schools to see if students are required to wear masks for the 2 week period.
The district board has said that they are willing to go back to a full-blown mask mandate if the county of San Diego reaches the “high” level of cases. The county of San Diego is currently in the “low” category. The circumstances had all been considered and chosen by running through the guidelines and regulations set by the CDC (Center for Disease Control). The board has also stated that it is “concerned” as well as being seen as an upwards course. These defense mechanisms had been brought up after a supposed rise in cases across the county, although still being considered “low”. As of May 11th, a reported 1,570 students had been marked absent or sent home for growing signs of COVID-19
While it still is not anything like we have seen since January of this year, nonetheless it is still a worrisome possibility that we may see more of the circumstances pop up across the county, state, and even country.
Photo Cred: Fox 5 San Diego
