The University of Iowa CAMBUS mask policy has strengthened, the university reported in a campus-wide email on Wednesday. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued an order that requires face masks to be worn by all travelers while on public transportation. 

Per the order, all riders must wear a face mask while waiting for a bus at a bus stop, and while riding, boarding, and disembarking a CAMBUS.

Refusing to wear a mask is a violation of federal law and may result in denial of boarding, removal, or penalties of federal law, said the campus-wide email. 

In a video provided in the campus-wide email, Dean of Public Health Edith Parker explained how a phased approach to COVID-19 vaccine distribution allows the vaccine to have the greatest impact on those most at risk while supplies remain limited. 

Parker mentioned in the video that Public Health worked with the National Academy of Medicine to develop criteria for the vaccine rollout. Those included risk of acquiring infection, risk of severe morbidity or mortality, equity, risk of negative social impact, and risk of transmitting the infection to others, the video said.

“The committee at CDC as well as the National Academy of Medicine [and] Iowa State Committee all wanted to focus on equity because they realized that there were folks that were disproportionately impacted,” Parker said.

This could be either by working in conditions where they cannot wear protective equipment, or they were impacted with [the] disease and illness, she said in the video.

The university also reported six new student cases and one new employee case of COVID-19 since Feb. 15. This brings the total number of cases since the start of the academic year to 2,982 for students and 436 for employees.