WESTFIELD, Ind. — Westfield Washington Schools announced the entire district will require masks beginning Friday, Jan. 7. The change comes as all but two schools in the district crossed the 1.75% threshold of positive cases.
That threshold was laid out in the district's COVID-19 protocols, released Nov. 8, 2021. Those protocols called for the following changes based on COVID positivity rate:
- Buildings with a COVID-19 positivity rate above 1.75% will be required to wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status.
- If six (6) buildings exceed a positivity rate above 1.75%, all WWS buildings will require masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status.
Masks or face coverings will be required in all schools' buildings before, during and after school activities, including BAC, TOTS and All-Aboard. Per a federal mandate, they'll continue to be required on buses. Masks will be highly recommended for spectators at athletic events.
The mandate will continue until all schools in the district are simultaneously at a positivity rate below 1%.
With the newly implemented mask mandate, students who must quarantine or isolate due to COVID-19 may return to school on day 6, regardless of vaccination status.
Westfield Washington Schools is the first district to reintroduce a mask mandate in central Indiana since COVID-19 cases began to surge with the delta and omicron variants.
This week, the state has twice set new records for the most positive cases reported in a single day. Thursday, IDOH reported more than 15,000 new positive cases. Hospitalizations are also on the rise, with comparable numbers to the pandemic's peak in December 2020.