Signs announcing the change are back on the doors at Anoka-Ramsey Community College campuses in Coon Rapids, Cambridge and at Anoka Technical College. The masks will be required when local virus transmission reaches a substantial level.
Public Safety Director Cliff Anderson is part of the COVID response team at Anoka-Ramsey.
“We are requiring everybody entering campus to wear a mask whether they’re vaccinated or not vaccinated. So anybody entering any of our three campuses we’re moving into a mandate for masking while they’re inside,” said Anderson.
That could change if transmission levels improve. But if Anoka County is at a “substantial” level or above they would go back on. That’s something officials will look at on a weekly basis.
“I think flexibility is going to be a really key point to that. If it does change week to week, and it’s pretty drastic we would probably convene the COVID response team and find out what our campus response would be to that,” said Anderson. “But week-to-week certainly sounds like it. If we can start on a Monday on a fresh week and see what the data shows over the weekend, not a bad idea.”
Anoka County Public Health held a vaccination clinic at the college. But the school is not requiring students to be vaccinated. The masking decision comes just weeks before the start of the fall semester.
“The delta variant has about a two week manifestation period, a surge. I hope it’s that. I don’t know how long it will last,” said Anderson. “Timing couldn’t be worse. But I think we’re being realistic about it. I think our population will respond just like we did almost a year ago. It’s a bump in the road.”
At Anoka-Ramsey, only about 30 percent of classes will be face to face. They still have a full contingent of hybrid remote learning. The college’s COVID response team will take input from three different public health authorities and the state college system in making its weekly decision on whether to mask up. Fall classes start August 23.
