Mask Mandate Issued For Schools, Childcare In Boulder County

BOULDER COUNTY, CO — A new public health order was issued Monday in Boulder County that requires masks in all indoor PK-12 schools and childcare settings. The new requirement takes effect Tuesday.

The order requires everyone older than age 2 to wear masks:

• While indoors in any preschool through Grade 12 school building anywhere in Boulder County
• While indoors at any childcare center or childcare facility, regardless of licensing status
• While indoors and participating in a youth camp, youth extracurricular activity, youth gym activities, and youth sport. This requirement applies to all participants, attendees, spectators, staff, volunteers and coaches. (Those participating in youth sports indoors must follow the public health sports guidance.)

Signs about the mask requirement must be posted on school buildings, childcare centers and other facilities covered under the new order, public health officials said.

The order also requires schools and childcare facilities adhere to isolation and quarantine requirements, symptom checking and other mitigation strategies.

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Boulder County Public Health said its top priority is "ensuring that children remain in-person for their learning and educational experiences with minimal disruptions due to quarantine and isolation."

"These orders and recommendations balance the physical health risks presented by the Delta variant with the academic, mental health, and social-emotional benefits of in-person learning," the agency said in a news release.

All the latest sampled coronavirus cases in Colorado are the Delta variant, county public health officials said. The variant is known to be twice as infectious and can cause more severe disease, the agency said.

In Boulder County, 39,500 children and teenagers — ages 5-19 — are either ineligible (23,500 people) or unvaccinated (16,000 people), officials said.

Anyone with questions about the order is asked to contact the Boulder County call center at 720-776-0822, or view the COVID-19 information on the agency's website.

>> More information about the new school guidance in Boulder County can be found here.