Students and staff on Los Rios campuses can now choose to wear a mask or not, according to an email from the Los Rios Community College District.
There are a few exceptions where students and faculty are required to wear masks on campus, including when individuals are on campus for a COVID test, have recently been exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID or have tested positive for COVID within 10 days of being on campus.
“These changes follow other public health agencies updating their mask mandate,” according to the email.
“Los Rios strongly supports any student or employee’s choice to continue wearing their masks if it makes them more comfortable,” according to the email.
Twenty-one-year-old biology major Amber Wilson shared her thoughts about the updated mask policy.
“I feel like it’s better because now it kind of gives people a choice instead of people feeling like they’re forced to do something,” Wilson said.
Wilson spoke about whether she would wear a mask on campus.
“I’ve been debating, but I probably won’t wear them on campus, mainly because the masks just irritate my skin,” Wilson said. “And I’m not really worried about getting sick or getting COVID, I think I already had it twice so I’m not really worried.”
Art major Citlalli Zapien, 20, expressed mixed feelings about the mask policy being updated.
“I feel like it’s a good thing and a bad thing,” Zapien said. “A good thing because we’re kind of easing into the idea we’re just like this is somewhat becoming a normality and now, it’s not gonna be like how it used to be, nothing’s going to be normal anymore obviously, but at the same time, it’s just kind of bad because there are people who are not vaccinated and they have families, or they are vaccinated, but they have family members who are not.”
Zapien spoke about whether she would wear her mask on campus.
“It just depends how I feel,” Zapien said “If I feel the need to, especially if there’s like a huge group of people then yes, but if I’m outside or in my classroom because my class is pretty small and the building is more open, I don’t feel the need to put it on.”
Thomas Barr, a 19-year-old photography major, said he was a little hesitant about the revised mask mandate.
“I was kind of nervous, but they said that it’s strongly advised to wear one,” Barr said.
Barr said that he most likely will continue to wear his mask on campus despite the revision.
“I’m not going to take one off and I probably will still keep my mask on,” Barr said.
Cindy Tapia, a 20-year-old business administration major, spoke about the mask mandate and how she feels.
“Me personally, I am more comfortable with the mask just because you know, it isn’t over yet but I respect everyone’s decision,” Tapia said. “I will keep my mask on and so I feel comfortable enough not to worry.”
Kevin Hoang, a 20-year-old who’s an undecided major, said the mask mandate is a decision that comes down to each particular person.
“I will say it will be a matter of opinion but I will say I want to stay safe wearing masks because during February, the surge of cases increased,” Hoang said. “My family got infected with Omicron, it didn’t end well. I got infected as well and took a while like two to three weeks to get recovered, but I’ll still wear my mask.”