The school bell rang on Tuesday, calling students back to class — and back to a renewed mask mandate in Paterson. Passaic County’s high community levels of respiratory viruses like flu, RSV and COVID-19 prompted Paterson schools Superintendent Eileen Shafer to reinstate a mask mandate for more than 23,000 students and all staffers.

“You’ll see the kids wearing the masks,” Shafer said. “It’s not forever. It’s going to be until we see these numbers coming down. Because I don’t want kids to be out. I don’t want teachers to be out. I want everybody to be in — for in-person instruction.” Paterson’s health officer, Dr. Paul Persaud, added, “When COVID-19 levels are high at the community level, we have to take some specific measures. There are guidelines set aside by the CDC.”

Paterson schools logged 35 to 40 new COVID-19 cases right before the holiday break, and the CDC calls Passaic County’s COVID-19 community level “high.” Meanwhile, influenza is rampant across the state.