LBCC regularly reassesses its actions to preserve the health and safety of all students, faculty, staff, and community members on campus during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those actions have been in alignment with federal, state, and local agencies and informed by vaccination rates and downward trends in COVID-19 cases.

Updates on Wearing Masks on Campus

In alignment with recently revised City of Long Beach public health orders and Cal/OSHA standards, and in recognition of the district-wide implementation of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, beginning on March 14, 2022, wearing masks will be optional in many campus settings for fully vaccinated individuals.

Exceptions to this indoor mask-optional policy include:

1. Unvaccinated person must continue to wear masks in all indoor settings
2. All persons, vaccinated and unvaccinated, must wear masks in the following indoor settings.
   1. Classrooms
   2. Interior hallways and student queue areas
   3. Where students receive one-on-one in-person services
   4. Meeting rooms that don’t allow for six-foot distancing or have a barrier separating individuals
   5. Shared transportation
3. All persons, vaccinated and unvaccinated, must wear masks in the Child Development Center and Student Health Center

We will reassess our approach in consideration of changes in orders and standards and other conditions present by Spring Break and will update the campus community as appropriate by April 1, 2022.

The public health orders, Cal/OSHA standards, optional mask wearing and exceptions to optional mask wearing are more fully detailed in the following sections.

Public Health Orders and Cal/OSHA Standards

LBCC has primarily aligned its mask requirements with the City of Long Beach Health Orders and Cal/OSHA’s standards. Both the City’s order and Cal/OSHA’s standards have been revised to relax mask wearing requirements for vaccinated persons.

The City of Long Beach revised their Health Order for the Control of COVID-19 on February 28, 2022. This order revises the requirements for mask wearing, in alignment with the County of Los Angeles’ order. The revised order specifies that vaccinated persons are no longer required to wear masks indoors except for specific locations including K-12 and child development/childcare facilities, on public transit and in transportation hubs, in health care settings, correctional facilities, and homeless shelters. Unvaccinated persons must continue to wear masks in all indoor public settings. The order further recommends that fully vaccinated persons wear masks in some indoor public settings including crowded settings. The revised order may be found at: https://www.longbeach.gov/globalassets/health/media-library/documents/diseases-and-condition/information-on/novel-coronavirus/health-orders/safer-at-home-health-order.

Cal/OSHA standards, which were revised January 14, 2022, align with Long Beach’s order when it comes to mask use. Indoor mask use is optional for fully vaccinated individuals if the business has self-attestation or vaccine verification in place. Indoor masking is recommended for everyone when in crowded indoor settings. The revised standards and FAQ sheet may be found at: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/coronavirus/COVID19FAQs.html.

Alignment with Public Health Orders and Cal/OSHA Standards

LBCC has adopted and implemented a COVID-19 vaccine mandate requiring all students attending classes or receiving service on-campus and all employees to be fully vaccinated. LBCC further requires all visitors who are indoors to be vaccinated. LBCC utilizes processes and systems to ensure compliance with the vaccination mandate that includes Student Services and Human Resources processes that ensure unvaccinated students and employee are not on campus along with a system of door monitors that prevents unvaccinated persons from entering LBCC buildings.

• Optional Mask Wearing

In recognition of LBCC’s vaccine mandate and in alignment with Public Health Order and Cal/OSHA standards, beginning on March 14, 2022, wearing masks will be optional in most campus settings for individuals who are fully vaccinated. The indoor spaces that allow for optional mask wearing are indoor settings that prevent close contact by allowing for six-foot distancing for 15 minutes or longer. These settings include the following:

1. Most office settings
2. Labs, computer labs, and libraries where attendance can be limited and six-foot distancing can be enforced
3. Meeting in spaces that do allow for six-foot distancing or have barriers in between individuals
   1. Meeting organizers must limit attendance to meetings to the maximum occupancy that would still allow for six-foot distancing and must ensure that seats are arranged with six-foot distances between seats or barriers between individuals are in place.

• Exceptions to Optional Mask Wearing

Unvaccinated persons must wear masks indoors at all times.

LBCC will implement the recommendations contained in the order and standards to require mask wearing by all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, in crowded indoor settings. LBCC has determined that crowded indoor settings are those indoor areas that cannot prevent close contact and don’t allow for six-foot physical distancing for 15 minutes or longer. These crowded indoor settings include:

1. All classrooms
2. Interior hallways
3. Interior spaces where students queue to receive services
4. Face-to-face indoor services such as Counseling, Welcome Center, Categorical Programs, Admissions & Records, and Financial Aid.
5. In-person indoor meetings that don’t allow for six-foot physical distancing or barriers
6. Elevators
7. Shared rides such as the Viking Voyager, LBCC buses and vans, and shared car rides on LBCC business
8. Attendance at indoor performances
9. Any other indoor setting that doesn’t allow for six-foot distancing for 15 minutes or longer

The public health order further specifies that masks must continue to be worn in the following indoor spaces on campus:

1. Child Development Centers
2. Student Health Center
3. Other Health Care Settings

• Recommended Mask Wearing

We continue to strongly recommend the wearing of masks indoors in recognition of the following factors.

1. Campus community members may have children under the age of 5 who, as yet, cannot be vaccinated. Masking minimizes the risk of COVID transmission to these vulnerable children.
2. Many colleagues remain apprehensive about being indoors with others who are not masked. Moreover, none of us will know when there is someone nearby who may be immunocompromised and in need of extra protection. Choosing to wear masks indoors is a good way to show respect for each other’s health and safety comfort levels.

• Closing

LBCC remains a safe environment for the entire campus community. Through our continued actions, we will preserve that safe environment while allowing for allowable flexibility and personal choice.

Thank you for taking the time to be informed of our latest guidelines on masks. We will continue to work together to keep our students, employees and loved ones safe during this global pandemic.