KN95, Surgical Masks Now Required At UArizona

TUCSON, AZ — Everyone on University of Arizona campuses must now wear a surgical grade or higher grade mask when they can't maintain social distancing. Cloth masks alone will no longer be allowed, according to an announcement from the university.

The university made the change last week as COVID-19 case numbers spiked.

On Saturday, the Arizona Department of Health Services added 16,504 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 to its count, along with 88 deaths.
With the omicron variant of the novel coronavirus spreading like wildfire, cases in Arizona are spiking again like they haven't done since around a year ago, during what was previously the peak of the pandemic.
But now Jan. 4 sets the record for the day when the most positive tests were taken, at 17,916. The record for last year's peak was exactly a year prior, when 12,455 positive samples were collected.

Students, faculty and visitors to the University of Arizona campus are now required to wear either surgical grade masks or higher grade, such as KN95, KF94 and N99 in all settings where masks were previously required.

This includes on the Cat Tran shuttle or other public transportation provided by the university.