Many Universities Ban Cloth Masks And Requiring Medical-Grade Masks
Newsy
This is a move that comes as the highly contagious Omicron variant fuels COVID-19 cases nationwide.
Universities across the United States are changing their mask policies, amid the Omicron surge.
Schools including the University of Southern California, The California Institute of Technology, The University of Arizona, Cornell University and many more are banning cloth masks. Students and faculty are now required to wear medical-grade masks, like the N95, while indoors.
"As Omicron has emerged of this more transmissible virus, the evidence has also been amassing that masks can be effective, and high quality masks can prevent transmission more than cloth or other kinds of face masks. So for us, it just seemed like there's no other right decision to make," USC's Chief Health Officer Dr. Sarah Van Orman told Newsy Thursday.
