Starting Wednesday, the University of Hawaii will require students, faculty and staff to wear masks indoors due to the increase in Covid-19 cases statewide.

The decision came after the state Department of Health and UH medical and public health experts recommended restoring the practice to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus, according to the university. The reimposition of the mask policy also is consistent with the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention recommendations.

Wearing masks indoors will be required until the level of Covid cases in the state decreases, according to UH. It said exceptions will be made for people working alone or sitting six feet apart from others.

“Reinstatement of the comprehensive indoor mask requirement will help prevent further spread of the Covid-19 virus and better protect the health of students and employees as every county in the state but one is currently assessed to have a ‘high’ level of Covid-19 community transmission by the CDC,” UH said on its website.

More recently the state Department of Education extended its indoor mask mandate for kids in summer school.

This comes not long after the state and counties lifted the mask mandates and other restrictions.

Hawaii recorded a weekly average of 925 cases per day on Wednesday, marking the eighth week in a row, according to statewide figures. The statewide positivity rate is 16.9%

There were more than 37,100 students enrolled at UH for the spring semester.

According to the university’s Covid dashboard, there have been 587 cases recorded since April 2020.