MOBILE, Alabama (WKRG) – One of Mobile’s biggest employers is telling people they need to mask themselves again. University of Southern Alabama reinstates mask requirement. A statement by the United States issued on New Years Eve which read in part “Due to the rapid escalation of COVID-19 infections in and around Mobile County, the University of Southern Alabama is requiring masks to be worn indoors by all students, faculty and staff. staff, effective immediately.. As with most school mask mandates, a University spokesperson wrote that they would continue to revise and adapt.

While the mask mandate is in effect now, you would hardly know it with most buildings and services closed on New Years Day. The United States is not the only school system bringing back masks. The Archdiocese of Mobile announced earlier this week that masks would be mandatory in private Catholic schools when classes resume this week. That’s at least until January 21 for Catholic schools, when the Archdiocese will also conduct a reassessment. We’ve seen mask mandates come and go this school year.

Most of the school systems in our region started with a mask mandate only to see it gradually canceled. Alabama’s largest public school system, Mobile County, dropped its mask requirements in early November.