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Masks are required for students throughout schools in the Diocese of Allentown

child-in-school-wearing-mask
AP
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FILE - A student wears a face mask while doing work at his desk at the Post Road Elementary School, in White Plains, N.Y., in this Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, file photo. AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, FIle)

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - It’s the first week of classes for Catholic school students in the Diocese of Allentown, and they’ll be wearing masks.

There is no vaccine mandate but anyone entering a school in the Diocese will need to wear a mask. 

“As we look at the COVID-19 cases surging and all five counties of our diocese being in high levels of community transmission we felt that this was the best approach not only to keep students and teachers safe, but to keep schools open for in-person learning,” Paul Wirth, spokesperson for the diocese, said. 

The decision comes just two months after announcing that masks would not be required in the fall.

Wirth said the announcement has drawn both positive and negative reactions. 

“There’s been a very spirited reaction to the announcement. And we’ve had both positive and negative comments about it,” he said. 

WLVR spoke with a number of parents, all of whom wanted to remain anonymous to protect their kids.

One parent said she has mixed feelings. 

“I just wish that when they sent out the information, that they would have said how they came to their decision and when they’re going to review it again,” she said.

Community transmission rates will drive any future decision to change the masking policy, according to the diocese.