Masks Again Mandatory Inside Heights Libraries

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH — Both employees and visitors, over the age of 2, will again need to wear face masks while inside any Heights Libraries branch.

This week, the Heights Library Board of Trustees voted to re-institute a system-wide mask requirement. The policy goes into effect Friday.

"Customers are still welcome to use computers, use study rooms, browse, and spend time in our buildings," the library system said in a statement.

The rise of the delta variant of COVID-19 prompted the change in mask policy, the library system said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently recommended anyone in an area of substantial or high COVID-19 spread should wear a mask indoors, regardless of vaccination status.

Cuyahoga County is now considered an area of substantial COVID-19 spread, according to CDC definitions.

Cuyahoga County officials mandated all public employees begin wearing masks again inside county buildings, and urged local businesses and schools to adopt their own mask policies to stymie the spread of COVID-19.

Vaccinated Ohioans may be protected from illness due to COVID-19, but they can still carry the same viral load as an unvaccinated person, according to Dr. Robert Wylie of the Cleveland Clinic. That means a vaccinated Ohioan can spread the virus like an unvaccinated person.

"Consider the vaccine and mask together to be an insurance policy. The vaccine can protect 95 percent of people from the severe effects of the virus. Masks also prevent you from unknowingly exposing someone if you're vaccinated," he said. "Without these two tested prevention strategies, the cost could be high to you and the people you care about."