No plans now to mandate masks for WV schools or vaccines for colleges
(The Center Square) – West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice does not intend to require public school students or staff to wear masks in classrooms and does not intend to require college students or staff to receive the vaccine, but he has also not ruled it out.
During a news conference, Justice said he is keeping everything on the table, but the current COVID-19 situation would need to change before he would introduce new state-imposed mandates.
“Things would have to change off the charts for me to support something that would require masks for our kids at where we are today,” Justice said. “…We’ll see as we get closer, but where I’m at, I could no way today support a statewide mandate for our kids. I just couldn’t do it. Not today.”
As the new school year approaches, the governor said he will have talks with medical experts, school boards and localities before making a final decision. He said there will be more information available as the school year gets closer.
Dr. Clay Marsh, who serves as the state’s COVID-19 chair, said CDC guidelines state a person does not need to wear a mask if he or she has been fully vaccinated for two weeks. However, he noted the CDC also states that if it’s not possible to determine the vaccination status of all people and the prevalence of the virus is high, mask mandates could be reasonable. He said there are also other things the schools could possibly do, such as maintain social distancing, increase ventilation and require regular testing for those who do not have the vaccine.
As the school year gets closer, Marsh said the state and school boards will make the best decision for students.
Justice also said he sees no reason to change state policy regarding students in higher education. He said vaccines save lives, but he wants to be respectful of students who do not plan to get vaccinated.
“It is an individual choice at this point in time,” Justice said.
The governor said it would be easier for people to get vaccinated, rather than to impose new rules. However, he said he does not plan to do anything at the moment.
COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths have gone down throughout West Virginia, but the Delta Variant has begun to grow. At this time, there are only about 22 reported cases of people in the state getting the Delta Variant of COVID-19.
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