Georgia College Has Zero Cases Of COVID — They’re Bringing The Mask Mandate Back Anyway

 One Georgia college is taking no chances with reports of a new variant of COVID, opting to bring back a campus-wide mask mandate despite having no reported cases at the school.

According to a report from WSBTV, Morris Brown College — located in Atlanta — has advised students, faculty, and staff that facemasks must be worn on campus for at least the next 14 days.

The school’s Instagram account also shared the contents of an email that was sent out detailing the mask requirement as well as a number of other mitigation efforts the school was going to implement as the school year began.

In addition to recommending frequent hand-washing and sanitizing, the school also called on students and staffers to engage in “social distancing” whenever possible and placed a blanket ban on all large gatherings and parties on campus for the next two weeks.

All students and employees, upon arrival at the college campus, are expected to submit to temperature checks and monitor symptoms — and, if necessary, refer to CDC guidelines regarding quarantine and isolation if they test positive. Following any positive tests, the school plans to initiate contact tracing as well.

 

Staffers, according to the memo, are permitted to unmask only when they are in their offices alone.

As reported by several outlets, no cases have been recorded at Morris Brown College yet this semester — the mitigation efforts were implemented as a precautionary response to several positive cases reported at the Atlanta University Center.

Morris Brown College is not the only institution bringing back mask mandates, however. Lionsgate film studio in Santa Monica, California, made a similar announcement this week — but the mandate did not come with a two-week expiration date. The policy, which begins “effective immediately” and continues “until further notice,” also comes with daily health-screening checks and contact tracing.