After peaking in January due to the Omicron variant, U.S. COVID-19 cases are decreasingly significantly, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and higher education are reacting with policy changes. The CDC forecasts that the number of newly reported COVID-19 deaths are likely to decrease over the next four weeks.
Colleges and universities across the country are responding to the decreasing infection rate by changing some of the COVID-19 rules on campuses. Already, many institutions in counties designated by the CDC to have low or medium COVID-19 Community Levels are making masks optional, for the first time since the pandemic began.
At Penn State University, students, professors and staff no longer have to wear face masks in many common areas at the University Park campus and other campuses. However, the College of Medicine will still continue the mask mandate to protect patient care and the Schuylkill campus will still require masks indoors. Masking rules will remain in effect in classrooms, labs and other academic and creative spaces on all campuses, regardless of CDC COVID-19 Community Level designation, due to high-density congregation, according to the university.
Like some institutions, The University of Pittsburgh is taking a more cautious approach, although its case numbers are decreasing or have zeroed out on some campuses. For now, Pitt is still requiring masking indoors. Its Healthcare Advisory Group meets to reevaluate the school’s masking requirements, and believes that it will change its policies after spring break, if conditions continue to improve over the next couple of weeks.
Duquesne University’s Health and Safety Committee is considering recommending new mask rules to begin a week after students return from spring break. The school says it’s likely that it will no longer require masks indoors, beginning on Monday, March 21, 2022, assuming the county’s low transmission rate remains low or decreases.
Similarly, The University of Arizona announced that it also plans to end indoor masking requirements on campus a week after students return from spring break. Students came back to classes on March 14, and the new policy is scheduled to take effect on Monday, March 21 – pending review of infections as students return from their vacations. The University will test members of its campus community and see if new case counts align with the state and county infection rates before relaxing its mask protocols.
Brown University opted for a masking-optional policy, which began on Monday, March 14. Both masking in most settings and testing for COVID-19 is now optional for fully-vaccinated undergraduates. The University had previously required undergraduates to take two rapid antigen tests per week since the beginning of the semester. Graduate students, medical students, faculty and staff will continue optional testing, and masking is now optional in most settings, except healthcare facilities, the Alpert Medical School, University shuttles and classes and meetings where the professor requires students to wear masks.
In the California Bay Area, higher education institutions are divided in their mask-wearing policies. San Francisco State University is keeping its face covering requirement in place, assuring students and employees of adequate supplies of N95 and KN95 masks. The University will require students to wear masks for the rest of the spring semester. Cal State East Bay dropped its mask requirements for fully vaccinated students beginning on March 1, although the school still requires masks in public settings like shuttle buses and healthcare facilities. Unvaccinated students still must wear masks at all times while indoors.