© 2025 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Los Angeles school district tells students to upgrade from cloth masks

Seventh and eighth grade students attend class at Olive Vista Middle School on Jan. 11 in Sylmar, Calif. Los Angeles students will be required to wear non-cloth masks.
Frederic J. Brown
/
AFP via Getty Images
Seventh and eighth grade students attend class at Olive Vista Middle School on Jan. 11 in Sylmar, Calif. Los Angeles students will be required to wear non-cloth masks.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is prohibiting students from wearing only cloth face masks on campus as the country grapples with a continued surge of COVID-19 infections driven by the omicron variant.

The district announced updated guidance on Friday requiring students to wear "well-fitting, non-cloth masks with a nose wire" both indoors and outdoors. Employees will have to wear surgical grade masks or higher.

Students and employees will be able to get masks from the district if they need them.

"Our in-school [coronavirus infection] rates have dropped but we are continuing to be diligent and agile in creating the safest learning environment," district spokesperson Shannon Haber told the Los Angeles Times.

The new policy takes effect on Monday, the newspaper reported.

According to public health experts, the cloth masks common at the beginning of the pandemic may no longer be enough to prevent you from catching the highly contagious omicron variant. Instead, officials recommend an N95 or a similar high-filtration respirator for increased protection from the virus.

Omicron is now the dominant strain of COVID in the U.S., making up more than 99% of cases, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Los Angeles recorded more than 39,000 new COVID cases on Saturday amid its highest spike in cases so far during the pandemic over the last couple weeks, though deaths remained far below what they were last winter.

The country's second-largest school system also requires weekly COVID-19 testing of all students and employees, and they must present a negative test to come onto campus.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Joe Hernandez
[Copyright 2024 NPR]

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

Related Content