Duquesne University Says It Is 'Considering' Dropping Indoor Mask Mandate
By: KDKA-TV News Staff
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Duquesne University is deciding whether or not it is changing its indoor mask mandate later this month, according to a campus-wide announcement sent out on Friday.
It is important to note the change is not official, but the university said it was "likely" that they would not require mask wearing inside campus buildings starting on Monday, March 21.
Officials are eyeing that date since it will be a week after students return to campus from spring break.
The administration is asking that students get tested for COVID-19 beginning on March 14, so they can see if it is safe to make masks optional. There will be testing resources provided on the university's campus.
Still, the university's Health and Safety Committee is considering input from faculty, staff and students, and it is possible faculty may have some say in mask wearing even if the policy is modified:
"Because of different class offerings and sizes, some faculty have suggested that professors and other instructors should be permitted to require masks in classes, at their discretion," the university wrote on Friday. "They suggest that faculty will make decisions based on safety, class needs for interaction, the physical space and other variables."
If approved, Duquesne University would be following the trend of local K-12 schools in the area adjusting their COVID-19 response plan. Some schools have been lowering mask requirements after the CDC's announcement last week that they would be measuring the need for face masks based on a tiered system. The CDC's new guidelines place more of an emphasis on how COVID-19 is impacting healthcare workers and facilities, rather than individual case counts.
Duquesne University stressed on Friday that regardless of what they ultimately decide to do, they encourage immuno-compromised and unvaccinated campus members to mask up.
They also added that people showing COVID-19 symptoms should follow typical protocols of isolating and wearing a mask if they go out while results are pending.
