Are masks back? In some institutions, the answer is yes.
At Morris Brown College in Atlanta, GA, and Lionsgate Studio in Santa Monica, CA, controversial health mandates on students and employees, respectively, are once again being imposed.
According to local network WSB-TV, the university began classes last week and asked all students and employees to wear face masks even though no cases of COVID-19 have yet been reported among students.
The network reported that this imposition was established as a measure of concern for 14 days. In addition, the university will not allow parties or large gatherings of students on campus during these next two weeks.
In addition, Morris Brown College, which has a mandatory vaccination mandate with religious and medical exemptions, will take other measures such as temperature checks on arrival at campus, social distancing and contact tracing.
Meanwhile, according to a report by The Hollywood Reporter magazine, Lionsgate's company asked its employees on certain floors of its Santa Monica offices to wear masks after some workers caught COVID-19.
In addition to wearing masks, the company also asked employees to get medical tests before going to the office.
The move comes amid speculation about whether controversial health mandates will take place again in the United States after a new variant of COVID-19, EG.5, has gained some traction in recent weeks.
However, the experts point out that this new variant is less worrying than the previous ones and does not justify the return of health restrictions widely criticized and rejected by society. Even a The New York Times report shows that EG.5 is not generating waves of cases like the previous strains.
