SAN DIEGO — Masking up is ramping up again in San Diego County as several school districts and military installations are now requiring people to wear a mask. 

It includes California’s second-largest school district, San Diego Unified, which reinstated an indoor mask mandate Monday. The shift comes as the county was placed into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “high” COVID-19 transmission level last week amid the spread of a new variant.

“I got my mask ready to go,” resident Andrea Puente Catan said.

The policy currently applies to summer school and programs, but not every parent is on board.

“The fact of the matter is kids are at minimal risk,” said Becca Williams, a candidate for a district board seat. “Many of these kids have been vaccinated and the cloth masking has been shown repeatedly to not work.”

Parents rallied Monday against the policy outside the district’s headquarters. Williams disagrees with the guidance enough to run for the seat, asking fellow parents for their votes to support squashing the mitigation measure.

In the South Bay, the Sweetwater Union High School District also announced unvaccinated students and staff must wear masks indoors. Its classes resume July 20.

“Hospitalizations are up and the contagiousness of this new strain is up,” Catan said. “I think it is OK.”

Military installations across San Diego, including Naval Base Coronado, are now requiring masks, too. The U.S. Department of Defense policy says mask wearing is mandatory at all installations when the community level is “high.”

“Hospitalizations are up so you just have to think about that and not about you, but about others,” Catan said.

If conditions don’t improve, Los Angeles County will likely impose a mask mandate by the end of the month. San Diego County health officials say they are not requiring masks but recommend wearing them indoors. 

See California’s current COVID-19 guidance by clicking or tapping here.