LOS ANGELES (AP) — Students at Los Angeles Unified School District were being required to wear higher-grade, non-cloth masks starting Monday, and the district has also extended weekly COVID-19 testing, regardless of vaccination status, through the end of February.

Students must now wear "well-fitting, non-cloth masks with a nose wire" at all times, indoors and outdoors. All employees were already required to wear surgical grade masks.

District officials said they will continue to provide masks to students and employees at school sites, as needed. And, as with the previous masking requirements, the mask requirements do not apply to people with mask exemptions.

Weekly COVID-19 testing for students and employees regardless of vaccination status was previously going to be required through the end of January, then required only of unvaccinated people. But it will now continue for everyone through February.

For information on testing centers and to make a COVID-19 test appointment at a Los Angeles Unified site, visit here or call the Family Help Desk at 213-443-1300. While appointments are encouraged, no appointment is needed.

School district officials also note that vaccinations remain a key element in reducing the impact of COVID-19 on individuals and communities and will be required for students 12 and older at the start of the fall semester of 2022.

For more details about LAUSD's COVID-19 guidelines, visit here.