Henry County Schools halts mask requirement, still 'strongly encouraged'

HENRY COUNTY, Ga. - A spokesperson for Henry County Schools said Friday that a reduction in local COVID-19 cases prompted the district to no longer require students and staff to wear masks effective Oct. 18.

The district's official stance is that masks are still "strongly encouraged."

"As a part of our commitment to keeping our students, staff, and families safe over the past 19 months, we have closely monitored and shared the health metrics from the impact of COVID-19 in order to make the best decisions regarding learning options for our students," said Superintendent Mary Elizabeth Davis. "I have been committed to being responsive to the data that captures the prevalence of COVID in our community which is why after further study this week and continued collaboration, I am announcing that we will move to the Level 3 mitigation phase on our continuum of mitigation strategies effective starting next Monday."

The district will also no longer reduce capacity at outdoor athletic events and field trips will resume. 

There will still be increased spacing in large classrooms and a pause in on-campus visitors and volunteers. Henry County schools will continue enhanced signage, cleaning protocols, regular air filtration cleaning, accessibility of hand sanitizer and sanitizing of high-touch surfaces.

"We have a plan that is working to keep schools open and to keep students and employees safe, and just as decisive as we demonstrated we may need to be if the community health conditions changed, we will stand ready to do that in future instances, if that becomes necessary," Davis said. "In the meantime, we have to use our plan and take the cautious step to lower levels of mitigation intensity, and now is the right time to do that."

On Friday, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported a 7-day moving average of 1,449 cases, the lowest since July 26. The state reported a 7-day moving average of 75.3 confirmed deaths.

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