NOLA Public Schools to require masks amid delta variant surge

After previously announcing plans to allow vaccinated staff and students to go maskless this fall, the NOLA Public Schools district announced Wednesday that everyone — regardless of vaccination status — will have to wear masks inside school buildings as teachers return to training and students approach the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year.

“This requirement is designed to protect our youngest students who are the most vulnerable and not yet able to get the vaccine,” a district press release explained.

Children under 12 years old are not yet eligible for the vaccine. Though clinical trials for younger children are underway.

The news followed Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s Wednesday press conference announcing a mask “advisory” — essentially a strong recommendation, not a legal mandate, that both vaccinated and unvaccinated people wear masks in indoor public spaces — in the face of rising COVID-19 case numbers across the city and state driven by the highly infectious delta variant.

Read more: https://thelensnola.org/2021/07/22/nola-public-schools-to-require-masks-amid-delta-variant-surge/