One of the State University of New York’s top liberal arts colleges announced Tuesday it was reinstating its indoor mask mandate for thousands, citing high COVID-19 transmission levels that have prompted a flurry of renewed advisories across much of America in recent weeks.
SUNY Purchase said it believed it was the lone Westchester County college to reinstate the mask rule amid rising COVID cases. The announcement included a current case total of 165 for the county, though New Yorkers know that number is likely well underestimated. College President Milagros Pena said a mandate right now appears to be necessary, “so that we can end the semester healthy and well, be able to send the students home to their families also healthy and well.”
Final exams are expected to wrap up this week — and while some students are worried about passing their classes, school officials are concerned students are passing COVID around too much. Students are required to wear the masks in indoor public places, but not when they’re in their dorms. The developments come as a growing number of people and places weigh renewed viral precautions as COVID, flu and now RSV combine for a tridemic threat this holiday season.
Editor’s Note: Meanwhile, masking healthy people all day indoors can be detrimental to cognitive development and performance. CNN medical analyst even admitted back in August that masking stunted her toddler’s language development. Recently, University of Queensland published study showing how masked chess players became distracted and showed decreased performance. — mmd