UCI latest school to resume indoor masking on campus, others say monitoring COVID-19 spread

As local universities and colleges review masking requirements on campuses amid rising rates of coronavirus transmission, UC Irvine is the latest to start requiring face coverings again indoors, as of Monday, July 18.

UCI’s new requirements follow a masking order at UCLA that has been in place since late May. Initially a two-and-a-half-week mandate, UCLA on June 14 extended its indoor face covering requirement indefinitely and continues to recommend weekly testing for COVID-19.

And Cal State Los Angeles never removed its mandate, first implemented in spring 2020. The university still requires indoor masking and recommends covering up during outdoor events.

Meanwhile, a number of other schools say they are monitoring COVID-19’s spread, but they don’t have plans yet to bring back a masking order. Several said they will take a cue from public health officials.

At local California State University schools – Fullerton, Long Beach, San Bernardino and Dominguez Hills – masks continue to be largely optional, university officials said. But they are monitoring the virus load and may adjust protocols later, representatives said.

In a campus-wide email Monday, David Forgues, vice president of Human Resources, Diversity and Inclusion at CSUF, noted there had been no new guidance from Orange County health officials on masking and “case counts and hospitalization numbers in Orange County remain far below previous surge levels.”

Cal State Long Beach made mask wearing optional in most campus settings for those fully vaccinated as of March 14.

Exceptions there and at the Dominguez Hills campus include masks being required for close-contact services and in classrooms, labs and small offices regardless of vaccination status.

County public health orders will guide school officials’ decisions on new coronavirus-related requirements, Dominguez Hills spokeswoman Lilly McKibbin said.

Cal State San Bernardino officials also are monitoring cases closely, spokesman Joe Gutierrez said Monday. Senior leaders will meet over the next few weeks to determine what safety protocols need to be in place for the fall term. The university is following CDC and local county public health guidelines in the meantime, Gutierrez said.

Cal Poly Pomona will continue adhering to Los Angeles County Department of Public Health requirements, spokeswoman Cynthia A. Peters said in an email Monday. Should an indoor mask mandate be implemented by county health officials, Peters said the university would follow suit.

Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer recently warned if transmission rates continued to remain high, a mask mandate could go into effect by July 29.

At least one of The Claremont Colleges – Harvey Mudd – also plans to mirror county direction with regard to masking, spokesman Tim Hussey said Monday.

In the Inland Empire, the University of Redlands is closely monitoring cases, as well as county and state mandates, spokeswoman Jennifer Dobbs said Monday. The university’s COVID Task Force is expected to make recommendations for the fall term in the coming weeks.

And in Riverside, La Sierra University has no current plans to reinstate an indoor mask mandate, said university spokesperson Darla Martin Tucker. UC Riverside, which brought back a requirement to wear face coverings indoors for the last two weeks of spring semester through graduation, also has no plans for masking orders at this time, spokesman John Warren said in an email.

In a new executive directive, UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman said the university’s reinstated masking rules would “help mitigate possible exposure to and transmission of COVID-19 on property controlled by UCI,” and curb the spread of the disease within the school community.

He cited Orange County’s position in the “high” level of community spread, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s transmission scale, as the reason for the new requirements. The CDC’s ranking is based on “hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area,” according to the agency.

Los Angeles County has also recently entered the CDC’s high-transmission category, while Riverside County and San Bernardino County each were listed on Monday as having a “medium” community transmission level.

The UCI order applies to anyone on campus and employees working off-site. Anyone inside school buildings, on public transportation or in a UCI vehicle with another person is required to mask up with a face covering that has at least two layers and completely covers the nose and mouth.

Students in their dorms or those in “an enclosed private space,” such as an office, are allowed to take off their masks, the executive order says.

Reporters David Downey, Christina Merino and Brian Whitehead contributed to this story.