Starting Monday Pa Governor Wolf: Mask Mandates for K-12 Schools.

Masks will be required for Pennsylvania K-12 students and staff when they return to the classroom next week.

Reversing an earlier decision to leave mask-wearing requirements to local school districts, Gov. Tom Wolf and acting Health Secretary Alison Beam announced a new statewide mask mandate on Tuesday.

The order, issued by the Department of Health, takes effect Tuesday, Sept. 7, and applies to students, teachers, and staff at public and private schools, as well as childcare facilities.

“The reality we are living in now is much different than it was just a month ago,” Beam said during a press conference. “With case counts increasing, the situation has reached the point that we need to take this action to protect our children, teachers, and staff.”

Some mandatory masking policies are conditional on a certain number of positive cases in the school or district zip code(s) or the transmission level of COVID in the county.

Interestingly, while only 36.8% of districts have some form of mandate, it covers 53.25% of students. pic.twitter.com/iWm5Jnaw94

— Gianni Hill (@GianniHillPA) August 28, 2021

www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/in-change-of-heart-gov-wolf-to-order-k-12-school-mask-mandate-in-pennsylvania/Content?oid=20113235

h/t JF Priest