Student Tribune
Mask or Not to Mask?
Dear MCC Students,
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) recently categorized Monroe County as an area of “substantial to high transmission” of COVID-19 and its variants. Our County’s rate of transmission is 58.37 per 100,000 people; the County’s seven-day average positivity rate is 3.3%.
Due to the increase in cases, the Monroe County Department of Public Health has restored the indoor mask policy.
As of Monday, August 9, MCC will require students, employees and visitors—regardless of vaccination status—to wear masks when inside college buildings until further notice. Masks are required for everyone—regardless of vaccination status—in all MCC instructional spaces (i.e., classes, labs and rooms with an assigned course section number). Some offsite locations, such as Rochester Arc + Flame, Eastman Business Park and clinical locations, may follow different guidelines due to the nature of instruction.
MCC reinstated mask wearing in response to emergence of Delta variant COVID-19 cases in the Rochester area, and in accordance with updated Monroe County and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations for wearing face masks indoors. It is a temporary safety measure until COVID-19 transmission rates decline in Monroe County and in order to keep MCC’s on-campus positivity rate low.
- Fully vaccinated students, faculty, and staff who are alone and not in a public or shared space may unmask.
- Any in-person meetings or group activities in conference rooms or other indoor spaces should be conducted with everyone being masked—regardless of vaccination status.
- When outdoors, everyone who is not fully vaccinated should wear a face mask on campus when physical distancing isn’t possible.
Masks will be available at various locations on campuses and the Applied Technologies Center. Face shields will be provided to those with qualifying medical accommodations:
If you have questions, please send them to covid19response@monroecc.edu. For the latest information, please refer to our Coronavirus Updates & Resources web pages.
Thank you for doing your part to protect yourself and those around you.
Burt-Nanna, DeAnna
Office of the President
08/06/2021