CT Reviewing CDC Recommendation On Masks In K-12 Schools: UPDATE

CONNECTICUT — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tuesday issued new guidance for masks, recommending that students and staff in K-12 schools wear masks this fall due to the highly infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus, according to Forbes and media reports.

The recommendation calls for masks in schools regardless of vaccination status, but whether Connecticut will follow the guidance remained undecided Tuesday afternoon.

Gov. Ned Lamont, who has not yet lifted the mask mandate from last school year, will finalize his decision on masks in the near future, according to a spokesperson. But News 12 Connecticut reporter John Craven wrote that Lamont was "moving toward the guidance."

The Hartford Courant also reported that Lamont was indicating that he would follow the CDC guidance for Connecticut.

"The Connecticut Department of Public Health and the Office of the Governor are reviewing the guidance, and we will have additional updates in the coming days," said Max Reiss, director of communications for the Office of Governor Lamont, in a statement. "The latest guidance from the CDC recommends that everyone wear masks in public indoor spaces in counties that have substantial or high transmission of COVID-19. Currently, both Hartford County and New London County are close to the threshold described by the CDC for universal masking. Even in states that have some of the lowest infection rates in the country, vaccinated people who are immunocompromised, otherwise considered high-risk, live with individuals who are high-risk or with unvaccinated children, may want to consider wearing masks in indoor public settings."

Reiss added that both the state Department of Public Health and Connecticut State Department of Education recently provided districts with interim recommendations for COVID-19 prevention in preK-12 schools to serve as guidance for the return of all in-person learning this fall.

In-person learning is a priority for the Lamont administration, according to Reiss.

"The best action all of our students over the age of 12 and educators could do to support a safe return to school is to receive one of the COVID-19 vaccines," Reiss said. "To that end, the Department of Public Health and the State Department of Education are assisting local school districts and public health partners in coordinating on-site school vaccination clinics in all of our districts through the late summer into the early fall.

"Connecticut has been a national leader when it comes to testing, mitigation strategies, and vaccine uptake, and we want to continue that progress to the benefit of our entire state."

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, made a statement about the mask recommendation during a news briefing Tuesday, the Courant reported.

Parents in Connecticut have grown increasingly weary of the requirement that their children wear masks in school, so the CDC's recommendation could cause more consternation.

The surging Delta variant has led to an uptick in COVID-19 cases in Connecticut and around the country, leading to Lamont and other state officials Monday to urge residents to get vaccinated.

Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 more than doubled over the past week, with 105 hospitalized patients as of Tuesday, down only three from Monday.