COVID-19 cases are continuing to rise across Long Island, causing some schools to make changes for graduation.

Hofstra University is mandating masks for everyone attending graduation ceremonies later this month.

The school released a statement Wednesday, saying, "We are mandating masks for all commencement ceremonies because there are large, indoor events and this is the best way to balance public health and to allow families and friends to celebrate this milestone with our graduates. All graduating students who are vaccinated and have received a booster will be permitted to remove their mask as they cross the stage for photos and for the webcast."

On Tuesday, Long Island's COVID rate was at 10.42%.

Doctors say they have been seeing coronavirus numbers rise over a few weeks due to a new Omicron subvariant, B.A.2.12.2, that is highly transmissible.

"I think that having a two- to three-hour ceremony in a room wearing a mask is probably a prudent idea," says Dr. Nyle Khan, emergency medicine physician at Long Island Jewish.

Collete Tubbs, of Season, is vaccinated and boosted, and celebrated Easter with her family at a local restaurant.

Four out of the six people at her tables felt symptoms the next day.

"We felt pretty safe with each other and unfortunately, the next day, they started having symptoms and fever set in two days later," Tubbs says.

Khan says even though coronavirus rates are up, fewer people are ending up in the hospital and the new variant is less severe than earlier waves, especially if people are vaccinated and boosted.