Nearly three years after the coronavirus pandemic first hit the west coast, Yosemite National Park is relaunching its indoor mask mandate over an on-going flare up of cases, per a Friday announcement.
The national park, highly trafficked by domestic and international tourists, has yo-yoed through policies tied to crowd control to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Driving the news: National Park Service officials argue that the area around the park has high spread of COVID-19, necessitating the move to require masks indoors.
- Mariposa County, which encompasses most of the park itself, is labelled as having a “high” level of community spread of coronavirus, per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
- However, the county only has 51 active cases, per the agency’s data.
What they’re saying: “Due to the high COVID-19 community level, mask wearing is now required for all people when entering federal buildings and public transportation in Yosemite National Park, regardless of vaccination status,” Yosemite National Park said in an Instagram post.
