Utah Dept. of Health recommending all K-12 students wear masks

Photo: Kelly Sikkema

PARK CITY, Utah — The Utah Department of Health is recommending all K-12 students wear masks indoors during the upcoming school year.

Due to Utah House Bill 1007, schools cannot enact mask requirements. There are some emergency response amendments that could be enacted by state or county officials however in dire circumstances.

“The majority of all COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations, and cases in Utah are happening to people who are not vaccinated,” writes the Utah Department of Health. The Department is looking to increase vaccine rates among Utahns 12 and older.

Students and staff who are fully vaccinated can continue in-person learning and participate in extracurriculars even if they are exposed to COVID-19 during the school year.

You can find FAQs for parents about the vaccines here.

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Taylor Lorenz of The New York Times recently highlighted how government health departments are using social media influencers to target teenagers with pro-vaccine messaging.

Fewer than half of all Americans age 18 to 39 are fully vaccinated, compared with more than two-thirds of those over 50.

“To reach these young people, the White House has enlisted an eclectic army of more than 50 Twitch streamers, YouTubers, TikTokers and the 18-year-old pop star Olivia Rodrigo, all of them with enormous online audiences,” Lorenz writes. “State and local governments have begun similar campaigns, in some cases paying “local micro influencers” — those with 5,000 to 100,000 followers — up to $1,000 a month to promote Covid-19 vaccines to their fans.”