HARTFORD — Gov. Ned Lamont announced Tuesday that masks will continue to be required when schools open for the new school year.
Lamont made the announcement about 28 minutes into a press conference yesterday. The video is posted above.
Lamont’s original executive order requiring masks for grades kindergarten through 12 was never rescinded, so his announcement Tuesday is a continuation of a policy already in place. He said masks will be required for at least the first month of school.
Parents, such as those who spoke at a Seymour Board of Education meeting Monday, have been asking school boards not to require masks, saying the negatives outweigh the positives and calling into question the data and position statements of the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
There is no COVID-19 vaccine available for people under 12.
More than 80 percent of adults in Connecticut are fully vaccinated, but the rate is significantly lower for adolescents: 63 percent for those ages 16 – 18 and 46 percent for those 12 – 15, according to numbers released Tuesday by the Department of Public Health, according to reporting from The CT Mirror.
Tuesday’s COVID-19 positivity rate was 4.25 percent.
