Indianapolis Public Schools will require masks for all students, teachers and staff when classes start Monday.
The district announced the change from its previous policy, which allowed fully vaccinated individuals to opt out of the district s mask requirement with proof of their vaccination status, on social media Thursday afternoon.
IPS, the state s largest district, is the latest to change its mask policy following new guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On Tuesday, the CDC issued recommendations that all students, teachers and staff members in K-12 schools wear masks, regardless of vaccination status.
Just weeks earlier, the CDC had said that fully vaccinated individuals no longer needed to mask indoors. The change came in response to a surge of new COVID-19 cases, fueled by low vaccination uptake and the more contagious delta variant of the virus.
While we know the majority of our employees have already received the COVID-19 vaccine, ensuring that all staff and providers get their shot is a critical step toward protecting the safety of our workforce, our patients, and our community, Paul Babcock, president and CEO of the hospital corporation, said in a statement. Vaccination lessens your risk of death from COVID by about 100-fold. We continue to urge everyone in our community who has not yet done so to walk in and get your COVID-19 vaccine today.
Employees, however, may still request exemptions for health or religious reasons through a process similar to the corporation s existing flu vaccination program.
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Jul 28, 2021 / 06:51 PM EST
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) With
“Right now, at the current, based on recommendations that we saw from CDC (the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and based on our local numbers, we are just recommending. We’re not requiring yet, but that is something that we will closely monitor our trends, to see whether it’s continuing,” said Dr. Virginia Caine, director of the Marion County Public Health Department, said Wednesday morning at a news conference.
On Tuesday, both the CDC and the local health department recommended people, regardless of whether they are vaccinated against COVID-19, mask up in public indoor spaces.
The latest guidelines say all students, teachers, staff and visitors should mask up regardless of vaccination status. Author: Lauren Kostiuk Updated: 9:03 PM EDT July 28, 2021
INDIANAPOLIS CDC’s new mask guidance is forcing some Central Indiana school districts to make last-minute policy changes.
Several districts already have students back in the classroom and others are scheduled to start very soon.
The guidance says all students, teachers, staff and visitors should mask up regardless of vaccination status as new data shows vaccinated people can spread the highly contagious delta variant.
“In areas with substantial and high transmission, CDC recommends fully vaccinated people wear masks in public indoor settings to help prevent the spread of the delta variants and protect others – this includes schools,” said the CDC director on Tuesday.