In a campus-wide email sent on August 4, the office of San Diego State President Adela de la Torre announced the reimplementation of facial coverings beginning August 15.
The reason for this change stems from the “recent increased COVID-19 transmission and case counts in San Diego County,” according to the campus-wide email.
All faculty, staff and students will be required to wear a facial covering in instructional settings regardless of vaccination status. This includes in classrooms, instructional labs, the library and other spaces being actively used in an instructional capacity.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, San Diego County is at a medium-risk level for COVID-19.
A region’s risk level can be low, medium or high and is determined by hospital bed capacity, hospital admissions and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in the area.
Mauro Tambasco, Associate Professor and Medical Physicist, said he believes the decision to require masks for the beginning of the semester could be beneficial for the future.
“I’m okay with it,” Tambasco said. “If it is based on the fact that the case rates went up then I think maybe it’s the prudent thing to do for the first couple of weeks.”
Teaching assistants, instructional faculty and interpreters will be allowed to remove their facial coverings when teaching as long as they are up to date on vaccinations and students are masked in the classroom.
Facial coverings will also continue to be required for all individuals in limited environments that have licensing or other requirements, this includes the Children’s Center and Student Health Services.
The email also noted, “Facial coverings are recommended indoors when gathering for events, meetings and other functions with others, to include non-instructional settings, such as offices.”
California State University system’s COVID-19 vaccination requirements are unchanged and require all students, faculty and staff to have a COVID-19 vaccination and booster on file to have access to campus facilities and programs.
According to San Diego County, there have been just over 5,000 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the last week.
The recent change to this decision has caused differing opinions on the matter across campus.
Ricardo Quinta, a senior and Civil Engineering major, is not pleased with the decision to require masks on campus.
“I’m not too happy about it,” Quinta said. “Personally I don’t understand the need to go back for face coverings if we are all vaccinated. If this is the new normal of COVID and it’s gonna be around then we as individuals need to take steps for our own safety and safety of others. But I think it’s up to our own individual to do that.”
The campus-wide email noted that the policy will be in place until September 15 and the university will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation.
