The mask mandate has been a part of campus life since the Spring 2020 semester, and after two years, campus masking guidelines have been lifted.
The guideline update announcement was made via email on Monday, Feb. 28, in a letter from President Bob Jackson.
In accordance with the updated CDC masking guidelines, Calloway County is considered a medium virus transmission zone, which leaves masking to individual’s discretion. If individuals feel the need to mask in public, they can do so, but it is not mandated for everyone.
Jackson concluded his letter by encouraging those who have not received their vaccine and booster to consult their healthcare providers and consider doing so.
Jackson also wrote that people can still mask if they choose to and that KN95 masks can be requested through the Racer Restart PPE Request Form.
Since the beginning of the Spring 2022 semester, there have been 190 confirmed Murray State-related cases of COVID-19. During the Feb. 21-27 timespan, there were four student COVID-19 cases, which pales in comparison to the 52 cases reported during the first week of the semester.
We at The News are surprised to see masks gone this soon, and we believe it will be quite an adjustment to campus culture because masking has been ingrained in us over the past two years as a key part of staying COVID-19 safe.
It also comes after the United Campus Workers of Kentucky, Murray Chapter expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of COVID-19 guidelines in the face of the Omicron variant. The University has yet to respond to their, “Keep All Racers Safe Petition.”
It seems the Murray Chapter will likely not get an administration response considering the recent guideline updates.
Although the masking guidelines are made in light of the new CDC guidelines, it almost feels as though we are celebrating the end of the race before it is over.
The fight against COVID-19 has been a seesaw of high and low case rates, and during those lows, the prevailing public opinion seemed to be that the end of the pandemic was insight. We do not want that false hope again.
A red flag that does not seem to have been considered is that Spring Break is ahead of us. After not having the opportunity of a proper Spring Break for the past two years, it makes sense students would want to travel again.
Students traveling across the country to go on vacation or simply back home to see their family creates the perfect situation for a case spike. If the administration were planning to end mask guidelines this semester, then it may have been wiser to postpone the change until after Spring Break.
In the letter Jackson wrote, “Should Calloway County return to the ‘high’ level on the Centers for Disease Control COVID-19 Community Level tool, our previous University face mask policy will be reinstituted per these new guidelines.”
Masking is perceived on a large politicized spectrum. Some see it as an infringement of their bodily autonomy by the government, while others see it as just another thing to grab and put on before leaving home.
If we were to have to return to masking after Spring Break, it would cause a lot of backlash. This change is a symbol of the end of the pandemic and of freedom from another rule with which we are burdened.
After removing an invasive rule like masking, it will be hard to reinstate.
Although The News is happy to be in a stage in the COVID-19 pandemic that allows for masking to be optional, we want people to remember that we should not resume life as if the pandemic does not exist.
Vaccine and booster clinics are hosted on the first floor of the Curris Center every Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The News also supports everyone who chooses to still wear masks. At this point wearing a mask is almost cultural, and it is hard to do the opposite after carrying out the same daily routine for nearly two years.
Collectively we must continue to be vigilant and stay flexible because although we are maskless today, the same cannot be said about tomorrow.
