College loosens masking guidelines, testing requirements

Feb. 11 | 5 p.m

Students can now unmask in all residence halls and eat and drink indoors anywhere except classrooms, Chief Communications Officer Jim Reische announced in the Campus Operations and Business Continuity Update on Feb. 11. Also, effective Monday, Feb. 14, students will only need to test for COVID-19 once a week. 

Beyond residence halls, students can also unmask while eating in the dining halls and during varsity and club sport practices, registered student organization (RSO) activities, and arts performances. However, masks must still be worn while playing pickup games, walking through athletic facilities, in locker rooms, during practices for out-of-season varsity teams, and during team travel to off-campus venues.

All student performances and most sporting events will be open to the public; the exception for sports will be when there is not adequate space to maintain appropriate distance, most notably for wrestling. More detailed policies on a sport-by-sport basis are available on the College’s athletics website. 

Students in isolation can now enter Paresky masked to pick up meals and mail. On the fifth day of isolation, students will take a rapid test, and may leave isolation if the result is negative. If the result is positive, they will be given five more rapid tests and will take one each day until they get a negative result.

In settings like classrooms, that require masking, cloth masks alone are not sufficient protection, Reische wrote, and the College encourages the use of KN95s, K94s, and N95s. In a follow-up email to the Record, Dean of the College Marlene Sandstrom clarified that 3-ply surgical masks are also acceptable.

This story was updated on Feb. 11 at 7:45 p.m. to include comment from Sandstrom.