Do you have questions about your school’s COVID-19 preparations for the 2021-22 school year? Join Michael McManus for office hours to discuss SY 21-22 COVID-19 planning:
On August 1, CDPHE extended Public Health Order 20-38, which concerns requirements for mask wearing in Colorado. This order is scheduled to expire on September 1.
As of July 1, 2021, masks are no longer required in schools under the state public health order. Local public health agencies may issue orders requiring masks within their jurisdictions, or schools and districts may choose to implement their own mask policies. Counties and municipalities can adopt stricter standards than the statewide order.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) encourages people who are not fully vaccinated to wear masks in all other public indoor spaces to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Everyone age 2 and older must still wear masks on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation traveling into, within, or out of the United States, and in U.S. transportation hubs such as airports and stations. This is required by federal law for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people. School buses are considered a form of public transportation.
Fully vaccinated people can go without masks in public indoor spaces unless the setting requires otherwise.
People who are not required by the order to wear a mask, even if unvaccinated, include:
People who are 11 years old and younger.
People who cannot medically tolerate a face covering.
Children younger than 2 years old should NOT wear masks.
This guidance strongly recommends local leaders and school leaders take a layered approach to prevention as described above. Communities with higher rates of transmission and low vaccination rates should continue to take heightened COVID-19 precautions. Local public health still has the authority to enforce local public health orders, which may include quarantine requirements.
