The Latest: AP sources: Gov. Wolf to require masks in school

HARRISBURG, PA — Gov. Tom Wolf is planning to announce that masks will be required in all Pennsylvania K-12 schools starting on Sept. 7.

That’s according to three people briefed on the plan. The people were not authorized to release details ahead of an official announcement and spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity. Wolf and administration officials are scheduled to hold an afternoon news conference. Two of the people said the masking order will apply to private as well as public schools and to child care facilities.

Pennsylvania’s two statewide teachers’ unions had urged K-12 schools to require masks in school buildings, citing the more contagious delta variant of the coronavirus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends masks in schools for students, staff and teachers.

Wolf is taking action amid a statewide resurgence of coronavirus that’s filling hospital beds just as students return to class. Pennsylvania is averaging more than 3,200 confirmed daily infections -- 20 times the number in early July. More than 1,700 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, up sevenfold since last month. Deaths have doubled in two weeks to about 20 per day.

— By Marc Levy, Michael Rubinkam and Mark Scolforo

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— Find more AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and...