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District will relax indoor mask mandate in mid-April
Courtesy photo.
CAMARILLO — After reviewing revised guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and county public health orders, Ventura County Community College District (VCCCD) is adjusting its COVID-19 indoor face mask protocols. Effective April 11, wearing masks indoors at Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura colleges and the District Administrative Center will no longer be mandatory. However, VCCCD will highly recommend using masks indoors at all VCCCD locations for students, faculty, staff and visitors.
“Over the past two years, the District has followed the data and adhered to the recommendations, guidelines and orders of our public health experts for the safety of our campuses and the community,” said Chancellor Greg Gillespie. “We will continue to follow recommendations from health experts in order to help maintain lower COVID-19 rates.”
In Ventura County, COVID-19 hospitalizations and PCR positivity rates have steadily declined over the past several weeks. CDC criteria and Ventura County Public Health orders currently place Ventura County in the “Low” range of COVID transmission, so wearing face masks indoors is optional.
VCCCD will continue to require that anyone who comes onto campus be vaccinated. People who have received a medical or religious exemption from the vaccine mandate should continue to follow the required safety provisions according to their exemption.
The District will continue to have face masks available upon request.
“Our constituents will undoubtedly have a variety of perspectives about these revised protocols, yet I ask them to be respectful of individual decisions about wearing face masks indoors,” said Gillespie. “We remain optimistic that COVID rates will continue to recede in the coming months.”
Additional COVID-19 information is available at https://www.vcccd.edu/COVID19.
Ventura County Community College District — The Ventura County Community College District is a member of the 116-campus California Community College system and serves approximately 31,000 students annually. The District’s three colleges–Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura–offer programs in general education for degrees and certificates, transfer to four-year colleges and universities, career technical education, and provide opportunities to engage in co-curricular campus activities. For more information, please visit vcccd.edu.