The University of Connecticut is one of the latest entities to bring back forced masking as federal health officials refuse to lift the federal mask mandate on public transportation and tease the possibility of the return of more mask mandates in the future.
Monday marks the first day of the return of the university’s mask mandate, which it attributes to a “substantial” rise in positivity rates “both in the state of Connecticut and on UConn’s Storrs campus and the potential risk this poses to the remainder of the in-person semester and commencement.”
The returned mask mandate applies to all “indoor instructional settings, workspaces, and indoor events exceeding 100 individuals, effective Monday April 18.” Employees are also instructed to wear masks “in the workplace.” These policies will last until the end of the semester.
“The goal of this decision is to protect health on our campuses and to help ensure that the remaining weeks of the semester and UConn’s commencement ceremonies can be conducted in-person,” university officials said in a statement.
“A widespread outbreak that overwhelms university health services and available isolation space could potentially disrupt both,” they continued, explaining that the positivity rate is increasing among students.
“Over the most recent seven-day reporting period, there were approximately 150 new positive cases both on- and off-campus,” they said, claiming that a mask requirement “further enhances that level of safety,” despite data showing that cloth and surgical masks are not effective at blocking aerosols — a fact often ignored by federal health officials as well.
University of Connecticut students are not the only individuals having to deal with the return of mask mandates. Earlier this month, Georgetown University reinstituted its mask mandate, in effect “until further notice.” Monday also marked the return of the City of Philadelphia’s indoor mask mandate.
Federal health officials are not prepared to let masks go either, as the Biden White House — once again — allowed an extension of the federal mask mandate for public transportation, which was supposed to expire Monday — the same day many of these mask mandates are making their comeback.