Ingham County released two emergency mask mandates on Sept. 2, 2021. The orders state that all persons in educational settings regardless of vaccination status are required to wear masks while inside any educational institution. In a press release the Ingham County Health Department said the two public health orders will reduce the spread of COVID-19 in schools and other educational settings and foster a healthy environment for in-person learning.
In compliance with these orders, all people age four years and older will wear a mask while inside all Capital Area Community Services sites located in Ingham County unless they are eating, drinking, or sleeping. Additional exceptions include if a person has a developmental condition where a mask would inhibit their access to education or has written documentation of a medical contraindication from a Medical Doctor or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine.
Additionally, CACS requires the use of face masks for staff and children on the bus. Parents will be required to wear a mask when dropping off or picking up their children.
CACS will support Head Start staff to do what they need to keep themselves safe and healthy with additional supplies or materials to accomplish this mandate.
At this time there are no county-wide mask mandates for Eaton, Clinton, and Shiawassee counties. CACS will follow mandates for these counties if instituted.
Staff, visitors, and children over between the ages of 2 and 4 are free to choose to continue to wear face coverings in sites without a mask mandate. CACS will comply with all programs requiring masks in their buildings and will continue to provide PPE.
“We are grateful for the collaboration with our local schools and districts that have already required masks and continue to work with us on isolation and quarantine procedures,” Ingham County Health Officer Linda Vail said in a public press release. “Unfortunately, our trends are going in the wrong direction and we must cover the gaps left behind in areas where mask requirements were not in place, including but not limited to daycare centers, childcare centers, preschools, youth programs, and private schools.”
