THEY'RE BACK: Sandy Hook Mandates Masks for Visitors

The fixture of pandemic anxiety makes a comeback during flu season while pandemic-era safety measures come under national scrutiny.

Sandy Hook - Anyone looking to enjoy Sandy Hook during the winter months should be advised: the masks are back. Yes, the simple fabric that is either a pointless bane of our existence or the ultimate shield against all plagues (depending on who you ask) is back at gateway National Park per its website.

Newsweek notes that: “[t]he decision to reinstate the mask mandate was made after the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that COVID hospital admissions were considered high in Monmouth County, where the park is located, and neighboring Ocean County. According to CDC data from the week ending January 6, Monmouth County and Ocean County have each seen 250 new hospital admissions of confirmed COVID cases.”

The return of the controversial face coverings comes hot on the heels of Dr. Anthony Fauci confessing to lawmakers in D.C. that six-foot social distancing measures “sort of just appeared.” The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic revealed that Fauci, the fallen hero of the pandemic, disclosed that the “six feet apart” recommendation championed by him and other US public health officials was “likely not based on scientific data.”

Nevertheless, the CDC has pressed forward with the mandate at the popular New Jersey landmark despite similar controversy surrounding the efficacy of facemasks which date back as far as 2016.

"We track the hospitalizations and they went to high Friday morning according to the CDC," Daphne Yun, a spokeswoman for Gateway National Park, told nj.com. "At this point, [visitors] are required to wear masks in the visitors center, and we have those ready if people don't have them."

Yun added that indoor tour participants will also be mandated to wear masks.

According to the CDC, COVID rates and hospitalizations have been on the increase in New Jersey and nationwide. The latest data shows New Jersey at "very high" levels of respiratory illness but with a “medium” transmission risk. The data is not COVID-exclusive as it also includes cases of the common flu and RSV, which are usually popular during the months of December and January, commonly - perhaps unsurprisingly - known as “flu season.”

The 250-year-old Sandy Hook Lighthouse and the Visitor Center where masks are mandatory including during tours. (Credit: National Park Service).

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