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With students heading back to school as the delta variant spreads rapidly through Texas, National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins calls it “heartbreaking” that school districts would be prevented from requiring masks in classes, as Gov. Greg Abbott has done in Texas. Collins says half-masked classrooms make little sense and won’t stop outbreaks, leaving parents with difficult decisions. Meanwhile, it’s unclear how long the latest COVID wave — which Collins predicted could soon see the U.S. posting 200,000 new cases a day — will last. (Wermund, 8/16)

Most Americans support mandating masks in schools and vaccinations to return to the workplace, and they oppose states' efforts to ban such moves, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index. The survey finds the Republican base going against the grain so disproportionately that it helps explain the defiant postures of many red-state governors. It also showed regional differences, with Midwesterners the most critical of mandates. (Talev, 8/17)

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) broke with some of his Republican peers on Monday, telling reporters that schools implementing mask mandates are “making a wise decision when the facts warrant it.” A number of Republican governors have issued orders in recent weeks barring schools from enforcing mask mandates despite the surge of COVID-19 cases throughout the U.S., which is being driven largely by the highly infectious delta variant. (Schnell, 8/16)

The Archdiocese of Baltimore will not require COVID-19 vaccinations for Catholic schools this fall and told parents this week that masking requirements for each school will depend on local positivity rates. Catholic school leaders plan to evaluate individual school trends and overall case counts in its jurisdiction on a weekly basis. If the city or a county’s positivity rate climbs to 7.1% or higher, Catholic schools in that jurisdiction will require masking. (Reed, 8/16)

With hundreds of South Carolina students already quarantined for COVID-19 at the start of the fall semester, the state’s second-largest public school district will require masks in schools despite a state budget proviso that bans districts from doing so without risking funding. Charleston County School District’s board voted 8-1 Monday evening to approve an emergency ordinance to require masks for anyone who enters school buildings through mid-October. Board Chair Eric Mack said the ordinance was proposed for the safety of students and staff given the rapid spread of the delta variant. (Liu, 8/17)

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis asked a judge to throw out a lawsuit by parents challenging his ban on strict mask mandates in schools, arguing the court lacks jurisdiction over the issue. Disgruntled parents who “fear being around unvaccinated, non-masked people” don’t have a right to sue because the executive order raises political rather than legal questions, DeSantis argued in a motion to dismiss filed Monday in state court in Tallahassee, Florida. (Larson, 8/16)

In a short-notice back-to-school news conference Monday, University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson said the upcoming academic year's COVID-19 guidance "isn't a political issue, it's a health issue," while maintaining that masks and vaccines will be strongly encouraged. May 20 guidance from the state's Board of Regents says masks and vaccines aren't required this fall at UI, Iowa State University or the University of Northern Iowa. (Krejci and Ojeda, 8/16)