With campus holding at a less than a 1% positive rate, a policy change has been made to start rolling back masks within residence halls. Bryce Killackey reports.
The advance-Titan recently reported on the easing of Covid-19 mandates on campus. Most notably the easing of mask restrictions in residence halls on October 25th. This measure of easing mask restrictions was done in a joint effort between UWO’s Emergency Operations Committee and with support from Winnebago County Public Health. The easing of restrictions is in part due to vaccination rates on campus reaching almost 73% amongst students and close to 77% amongst faculty. Testing requirements are still in place for those who are unvaccinated, and the university is hopeful there will be no change in current levels of Covid-19 on campus. This lifting of mask restrictions still requires masks in other university buildings and specific locations in residence halls. The residence hall director for Taylor Hall, Allison McKinley-Kirkland noted that, “there has been some confusion,” in an email sent to residents earlier last week to help students understand where the restrictions have been lifted. Stating that many public areas like basement lounges, front lobbies and in meetings with staff still require masks to be worn. Meanwhile, Chancellor Leavitt took the email sent to residents about the ease of restrictions to praise students saying, “It’s important to recognize it is your hard work that’s getting results.”
