School District of Philadelphia joins growing list of schools reimposing mask mandates

PHILADELPHIA - The School District of Philadelphia is joining a growing list of schools who are reinstating their mask requirements for students and staff as COVID-19 cases are on the rise.

In an email sent home to parents Friday, district officials announced that universal masking would return to schools on Monday. District officials said in a message to parents the return to universal mask wearing was recommended by the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.

Most counties in southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware have recently seen their COVID-19 transmission levels elevated to 'high' by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of Friday afternoon, Philadelphia and Berks County remained at a 'medium' community level. 

The CDC's map can be found here. 

When a county enters the ‘high’ category, the CDC recommends wearing a mask in public. This caused many local school districts to immediately reimpose their indoor mask mandate for students and faculty. 

The Lower Merion and Cheltenham school districts told students and staff to re-mask on Friday. Both districts cited Montgomery County's recommendation to follow the CDC's masking guidelines. Norristown Area School District will also be reinstating their mandate on Monday.