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Philadelphia to require students and school staff to start wearing masks again despite high vax rates

May 24, 2022 | | Print Article

Teachers and students in the school district of Philadelphia will have to get used to wearing masks once again.

The City of Philadelphia’s school district has made the final move forward with its decision to reinstate its previous mask requirements and mandates for both students and faculty, due to an unexpected uptick in COVID-19 cases among residents in the area.

Philadelphia County — the most populous county in Pennsylvania — is witnessing a significant percentage increase in Coronavirus cases, on average, when compared to the average two weeks ago, according to reporting by The New York Times.

All schools within Philadelphia’s school district will now require all students and staff to begin wearing a mask while at school, including in classrooms and whenever on school property; the policy change was implemented on Monday, according to an announcement made district-wide by the school district officials.

“As we’ve learned since the pandemic began, the coronavirus continues to evolve, and so will our response to it,” said Superintendent William Hite in the announcement. “As we work together to minimize the spread, please remember that our Health and Safety Protocols are still in effect…”

The policy announcement also requires students and drivers to wear a mask during rides to and from school, and while on school buses and transport vans.

The decision to reimplement the school district’s mandatory mask policy came from district officials following a strong recommendation from the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.

“To help protect everyone’s health and well-being — as COVID-19 case counts continue to rise in the Philadelphia area — the Philadelphia Department of Public Health has recommended that we resume universal mask-wearing,” the announcement said when it came out on May 20.

“Therefore, starting this Monday, May 23, 2022, and until further notice, all school district students and staff will be required to wear their masks during the school and work day and while riding on school buses and vans,” it continued.

For a very short time, Philadelphia was the only major city in the United States to reinstate a mandatory indoor mask mandate back in April, according to The Hill. Due to a significant amount of backlash from residents that followed the indoor mask mandate decision, it was canceled only a few days after going into effect.

Also, the tiered system the district utilized to help make decisions about the reimplementation of coronavirus safety measures throughout the city was abandoned at the same time.

Currently, over 77 percent of adults in Philadelphia are fully vaccinated. Additionally, more than 34 percent of residents have received a booster shot of a COVID-19 vaccine. Furthermore, 94 percent of city dwellers 12 and older have received at least one shot, according to city data.

In Philadelphia, the vaccination numbers of children ages 5 to 11 remain at around 36 percent; those numbers include children who have just had one vaccine shot.

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