A mask mandate has been reinstated at Sandy Hook National Park following an uptick in COVID hospitalizations in the area.
Visitors will be required to wear a mask inside buildings at the New Jersey national park. Masks are mandatory in the Sandy Hook visitors center as well as any other building where events or tours are held.
The decision to reinstate the mask mandate was made after the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that COVID hospital admissions were considered high in Monmouth County, where the park is located, and neighboring Ocean County. According to CDC data from the week ending January 6, Monmouth County and Ocean County have each seen 250 new hospital admissions of confirmed COVID cases.
“We track the hospitalizations and they went to high Friday morning according to the CDC,” Daphne Yun, a spokeswoman for NPS Gateway Recreational Area, told local news site nj.com. “At this point, [visitors] are required to wear masks in the visitors center, and we have those ready if people don’t have them.” Yun added that indoor tour participants will also be mandated to wear masks.
Mask mandates have often been criticized. The CDC has consistently advocated for mask wearing, saying that it helps decrease the spread of respiratory viruses. National Park Service (NPS) regulations require Sandy Hook National Park to track CDC hospital admission levels.
John Smith/VIEWpress
Newsweek reached out to NPS Gateway Recreational Area via email for comment.
In March 2022, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy lifted the mask mandate for state buildings, following a similar decision regarding schools and childcare centers in the state.
As COVID cases rise, some New Jersey locations are requiring people to wear masks again. Besides Sandy Hook National Park, major hospitals in the state have reinstated mask mandates as respiratory illnesses, including COVID, the flu, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are on the rise. In addition to wearing a mask, the CDC suggests getting vaccinated and practicing good hygiene to stop the spread of these viruses.
New Jersey is currently one of the states with the highest rates of COVID test positivity. According to CDC data from the week through January 6, New Jersey, along with U.S. territories Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, has higher test positivity than anywhere else in the country, with 15.8 percent of tests coming back positive in the first week of 2024.
Vermont, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and Connecticut trail closely behind with test positivity rates of 15.5 percent.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.