U Of M Drops Mask Mandate For Common Areas, Sports Arena And Commencement Events
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The University of Minnesota announced Friday that it's further loosening its indoor masking requirements, no longer requiring masks in common areas, sports arenas and at spring commencement events.
However, administrators say that masks will still be required in classrooms and laboratories, medical facilities, and on transit vehicles, as is still required by federal officials.
A list of places where masks are no longer required at the university include:
- in dinning settings (food courts, residential dinning halls)
- in common areas (hallways, student unions, study places, libraries, and recreation facilities)
- in office workspaces
- at sporting events
- at entertainment venues
- and at spring commencement events.
These changes to restrictions come as Minnesota has experienced a significant drop in COVID-19 cases on the back end of the Omicron surge.
At the peak of the surge earlier this year, a number of cities -- including Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth -- reinstituted indoor mask mandates. They've since been dropped.
Experts say it's possible that the COVID-19 virus becomes endemic, infecting people in cycles similar to the flu. However, researchers say that while cases might be low in the U.S. through the summer, another variant could flare up in the fall, as has happened these last two years.
Experts also advise that cloth masks don't offer nearly as much protection on N95s.