Shenandoah National Park reinstated a mandatory mask-wearing requirement inside park buildings on Monday.
The policy is due to high COVID-19 transmission rates in the parks area. The decision was made in collaboration with U.S. Public Health Service, the National Park Service said in a statement.
“The trigger to require masking is when the majority of the counties that the Park resides in move into high transmission status,” Superintendent Pat Kenney said.
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Everyone over 2 years old is required to wear masks inside park buildings, regardless of vaccination status.
The masks must be worn in all common areas and shared workspaces in any buildings owned, leased or controlled by the National Park Service, including park visitor centers, administrative offices, lodges, gift shops and restaurants, NPS said.
Portions of Shenandoah National Park are located in eight Virginia counties, according to park statistics. The counties are Albemarle, August, Greene, Madison, Page, Rappahannock, Rockingham and Warren.
According to the CDC, Rappahannock County’s COVID-19 community level is high, and wearing masks indoors is recommended. The seven-day average number of daily new COVID cases reported in Virginia was more than 2,400 as of Tuesday on the Virginia Department of Health's COVID dashboard.
The NPS said it will make adjustments to the park's COVID policies as the CDC community levels change.
