San Diego Unified School District bringing back mask mandate amid high county coronavirus spread

San Diego County’s increasingly high level of COVID-19 coronavirus transmission has prompted the San Diego Unified School District to bring back an indoor mask mandate starting Monday, July 18.

Masks have been optional in San Diego Unified since April 4. The renewed mandate will last at least two weeks and will affect students and staff in summer school programs, according to the district.

In May, San Diego Unified set multiple criteria that, if met, would trigger a return to a mask mandate. One of those criteria was if San Diego County entered a “high” level of COVID-19 activity, as determined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As of July 14, an increasing number of COVID-related hospitalizations had pushed the county past that threshold. San Diego County currently is at 11.5 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents.

When a county has a high community transmission level, the CDC recommends that people wear masks while in public indoors, including at schools.

Starting July 18, everyone at San Diego Unified schools and district offices will have to wear a mask indoors, the district announced in an email to families the evening of July 15.

“We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 community level according to the CDC and county data and we will communicate if there are any changes in two weeks,” the email stated.

State officials have not announced any renewed statewide mask mandate. ◆