Masks will be required in classrooms and office buildings, among other locations, when the University of Alabama resumes operations Tuesday.
On Monday, the university said the policy, which will be in effect for everyone regardless of vaccination status, is among new “necessary” rules “as national and local coronavirus transmission rates have increased.”
UA will be requiring masks in academic buildings, including libraries and classrooms.
The spring semester begins Jan. 12, with university operations resuming Tuesday.
The mask policy will also be in place in administrative and office buildings except when socially distancing is being followed, the university said in a message to faculty, staff and students.
Masks will also be required at university healthcare facilities, on campus transportation and “other areas as officially designated by the university.”
The omicron variant of COVID-19 is spreading throughout the country, and data compiled by the Mayo Clinic shows Alabama has the second-lowest percentage of fully vaccinated residents in the country at 47.6 percent.
Each of Alabama’s 67 counties is classified as having a high transmission rate of COVID-19, according to the state Department of Public Health.