RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Community college students and staff in Virginia will be required to wear masks while indoors.
Virginia Community College System Chancellor Glenn DuBois said in a letter to college presidents Wednesday that the system will follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. That guidance includes layered prevention strategies and vaccinated people wearing masks in settings with substantial levels of transmission.
All 23 of Virginia’s community colleges serve localities with substantial or high transmission rates in recent days, DuBois said. Each college can decide when to implement the rule and apply the mandate in a manner that best suits the individual school.
DuBois said he will revisit the mandate when needed. The system isn’t requiring students or staff to be vaccinated, unlike most of the state’s four-year colleges. Community colleges don’t have residence halls and lack the public health infrastructure to maintain personal student health data, DuBois said in May.
Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday that state employees will be required to receive a vaccination or undergo weekly tests
