With the start of school less than a month away, many Colorado parents are still waiting to know if their children will be required to wear masks in the classroom.
Colorado’s latest public health order at the beginning of July said masks were no longer required by the state in school settings. But federal guidance released days later recommended that any unvaccinated students or staff continue to wear masks in schools, along with following several other safety precautions, with the goal of keeping schools open for in-person learning.
Some districts used the state’s initial guidance to change the rules right away in their summer programs, while other district leaders said it was not appropriate to switch the rules with so little time left in those programs.
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Several Colorado medical groups and the state’s teachers unions have asked Gov. Jared Polis to encourage unvaccinated people including children to continue wearing masks in schools as part of a broader strategy to contain COVID.
While parts of Colorado have high vaccination rates among eligible adults and teens, the threat of COVID has not passed, the groups warned in a letter sent Monday. Children younger than 12, who cannot be vaccinated, are more vulnerable than before due to more contagious variants, the letter read.
“While vaccinations have helped drive a significant decrease in COVID-19 transmission throughout much of Colorado, we must acknowledge that over 800,000 Colorado children are not eligible for the vaccine,” the letter says, with the groups noting that vaccination rates remain low in many rural parts of the state.
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