File Photo.

Governor Tom Wolf announced a mask mandate for all public and private pre-K-12 schools and daycares at a virtual press conference on Tuesday afternoon, reversing course after a request to require masks was blocked in the state House and Senate earlier this month.

Department of Health Acting Secretary Alison Beam signed the order under authority provided by the Disease Prevention and Control Law, the Administrative Code of 1929, and the Pennsylvania state code.

The order takes effect next week at 12:01 a.m. on Sept. 7. Teachers, children, students, staff, and visitors are required to wear face coverings indoors regardless of vaccination status. Wolf plans to return to evaluate the situation again during the first week of October.

Schools are required to mandate and enforce the requirement “regardless of whether this Order is reflected in a school entity's Health and Safety Plan,” according to the text of the order.

They must post signage detailing the requirement inside of school buildings, as well as provide accommodations for individuals who have medical, mental health, or disability reasons for which wearing a mask would be unreasonable.

The order states that schools should not “restrain, use force, or physically remove, teachers, children/students, staff, or visitors who refuse to comply with this Order when it would not otherwise be legal to do so.”

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