Gov. Murphy Expected To Mandate Students Wear Masks When Schools Reopen This Fall

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — New Jersey students will have to mask up when they return to school in just a few weeks.

Gov. Phil Murphy is expected to make the announcement Friday, as the state sees an uptick in coronavirus cases.

Students, teachers and staff will be required to wear masks in all K-12 schools.

“If we’re going back to school, I wouldn’t want to be in a stuffy class with a mask on all day,” a sixth grader named Morgan said.

“No, I hate that. No, because it gets fuzzy and I have to itch my nose,” a third grader named Maddy added.

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This is a turnaround for the governor, who previously said the state was not planning to have a statewide mandate and he would leave it up to individual districts. But with rising cases due to the Delta variant, things have changed.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cited evidence that the variant is more contagious, and the Pediatrics Academy recommended universal masking because many students are not yet old enough to receive the vaccine.

“I’m expecting it. It’s going to be safe for the kids. We have a 7-year-old and a 13. He’s vaccinated, she’s not. So completely understand health comes first,” Glen Ridge parent Ashish Parmar said.

“I think that right now we don’t know what we don’t know about the Delta variant, and I think that even if you’re vaccinated it may make sense to be masked up in public places,” Cedar Grove parent Carolyn Ickes added.

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Down the Shore, a COVID cluster has turned into an outbreak. Twenty teenagers have tested positive after attending so-called “teen nights” at clubs on Long Beach Island.

“It can be really hard to understand the sheer numbers, due to underreporting or mild symptoms may not get captured,” said LBI’s Health Officer Daniel J. Krupinski. “The outbreaks could be larger than we are reporting.”

Across the Hudson, New York City officials say they are planning to move ahead with in-person classes and universal masking. The state health commissioner says it’s up to districts to “develop plans to open in-person in the fall as safely as possible,” but he recommends “following guidance from the CDC and local health departments.”

Federal health officials still suggest three feet of social distancing in classrooms.

from CBS New York https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/08/06/nj-school-mask-mandate-murphy/
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