Augsburg University, St. Cloud State Requiring Students To Wear Masks

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- More Minnesota colleges are making masks mandatory for students and staff on campus.

On Wednesday, Augsburg University and St. Cloud State University announced that students and staff will need to wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status, until transmission rates drop below substantial or high levels.

This comes after the University of Minnesota announced its mask requirement for students and staff earlier this week.

Augsburg, located in Minneapolis, will also require that students be vaccinated. Other Minnesota colleges, such as St. John's University and St. Benedict's University, also require that people be vaccinated before returning to in-person classes.

These policies come as the COVID-19 Delta variant is spreading rapidly across Minnesota and the nation. The highly-infectious variant is affecting both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, although the vaccinated are far less likely to develop severe symptoms.

Last month, the Centers for Disease Control recommended that people wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status in areas where the virus is showing significant or high levels of spread. Currently, much of Minnesota -- including the Twin Cities -- is showing significant levels of spread.