A message from Dr. Tony D. Hawkins, FCC Provost/Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Continuing Education, and Workforce Development:

As COVID cases start to rise again due in part to the BA.2 Omicron subvariant, we will continue the indoor mask requirement in all Frederick Community College classrooms and instructional spaces through the end of the Spring 2022 semester. BA.2 is now the dominant strain in the United States. While recent studies show that BA.2 does not cause more severe illness than the initial Omicron variant, they also show that BA.2 is even more transmissible.

These circumstances present a challenge, but we have learned to adjust our mitigation measures to respond to changing conditions throughout the pandemic. We strongly recommend wearing a properly-fitting, high-quality mask, which are available for free at the Welcome Center on main campus or the Security Desk at the Monroe Center.

We will continue to monitor College case numbers and positivity rates, COVID-19 community levels, and global developments relating to the pandemic, which will inform our decision of when to no longer require mask wearing in classrooms.

Thank you for your continued support, adaptation and feedback as we try to return to normal.