ATLANTA (TND) — A private liberal arts college in Atlanta said Sunday that it is reinstating a mask mandate on its campus.
Morris Brown College (MBC) announced on Instagram that it was issuing the mandate following an increase in positive cases of COVID-19 among students in the Atlanta University Center. The center oversees four Atlanta institutions and is "the world's oldest and largest association of historically Black colleges and universities," according to its website.
For 14 days, MBC students will be required to wear masks, maintain "physical distancing" and avoid large gatherings, according to MBC's announcement. Students and staff will also be required to undergo "temperature checks" upon arriving to campus.
Comments on the Instagram post were largely supportive, with social media users thanking the school for taking decisive action.
“SMH at the negative comments, WOW! Thank you Dr James for taking precaution while this nationwide notice has become active in the past few days,” one commenter said.
“ngl this was way too late, too many parties alr happened [crying emoji],” another said.
Some comments were "hidden" by Instagram due to being "misleading, offensive or spam." One such comment linked to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study arguing that wearing masks is not an effective way to stop the spread of influenza.
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Included in MBC's announcement was #TheHardReset, a campaign launched by the school to regain its accreditation after losing it in 2002. It is not immediately clear how the mandates align with the campaign.
The U.S. saw a rise in coronavirus cases in May for the first time since the CDC ended its public health emergency. At the time, public health officials were not concerned that the rise would lead to a widespread outbreak.
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