NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — As COVID-19 cases increase across the country, Newport News Shipbuilding updated its mask requirement.
All employees, regardless of vaccination status, will have to wear masks indoors and in covered facilities.
That requirement going into effect on Monday, August 2.
The update lines up with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recent change in mask guidelines.
The spread of the delta variant and its high transmission has caused concern for cities where cases have surged. Most of Hampton Roads is in the "high" transmission zone in late July.
On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced that federal workers will be required to attest they’ve been vaccinated against the coronavirus or else face mandatory masking, weekly testing, distancing and other new rules.
The shipyard said in a F.A.Q. that recent “tests show a slight uptick in cases among the workforce.”
While the numbers are below levels at the height of the pandemic, this increase is cause for concern, officials said.
Face masks are required aboard USS George Washington, USS Boise, USS Helena and USS Columbus.