The Contra Costa Community College District announced Monday that it will keep indoor mask requirements in place through at least the summer semester as COVID-19 cases rise across the county.
District officials said in a statement that they will determine whether to lift indoor mask requirements for the fall 2022 semester.
The district - which includes Contra Costa College in San Pablo, Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, Los Medanos College in Pittsburg and educational facilities in Brentwood and San Ramon - will also continue requiring students and employees to have completed their initial vaccine series.
COVID cases and hospitalizations have increased in Contra Costa County and across the state in recent weeks due to the extremely contagious BA.2 subvariant of the already highly contagious omicron variant.
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"We can't wait to see the smiling faces of our students in the classroom, but we must do our part to minimize the spread of the Omicron variants and sub-variants by continuing to require this best practice to protect against the virus," district Interim Chancellor Mojdeh Mehdizadeh said in a statement.
The district will continue to offer in-person, hybrid and fully online classes throughout the summer.
COVID test kits are available at all schools across the district as well as the district's main office in Martinez.
