Bemidji State, NTC mask mandate extended through end of spring semester

Jan. 28—BEMIDJI — Bemidji State and Northwest Technical College have extended their mask mandate, which was set to expire Jan. 31, and will remain in place through the end of spring semester.

According to the BSU website, the masking requirement for all people in indoor, public spaces at both campuses was extended in response to COVID-19 transmission levels for Beltrami County and guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Current trends in Beltrami County make it unlikely that we will see conditions which will allow us to lift our requirement — Beltrami County being rated as a low or moderate-transmission county for 14 consecutive days — any time this semester," a release said.

Both campuses mandated masks ahead of the school year starting Aug. 9

, with an original end date of Aug. 31, unless Beltrami County reached and remained at a substantial spread of COVID for a period of fourteen consecutive days, or immediately upon high levels of spread.

The mandate was then extended through Oct. 1 and reevaluated on Sept. 27, after which masks were mandated for the remainder of the fall semester.

The penultimate extension saw mandated masks through Jan. 31 with the colleges emphasizing the low likelihood that the mandate would be lifted on that date due to the omicron variant.

More information on BSU and NTC's COVID mitigation measures can be found at

www.bemidjistate.edu

and

www.ntcmn.edu

.