By Sumaiya Nasir | February 28, 2022
Photo credit: Stock Images
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Sunday that the statewide mask mandate in schools will be lifted on Mar. 2. This decision was announced a day after New York State’s 7-day average positivity rate was reported to fall below 2%.
The University at Albany will remain unaffected by this decision, and will continue to enforce the mask mandate set in place by the SUNY system until further notice.
“The policy is being reviewed internally and with our local health department,” said Jordan Carleo-Evangelist, Director of Media and Community Relations. There are currently no changes to the campus mask mandate, according to Carleo-Evangelist, but students and faculty will be notified should a change to this decision be made.
“The university is looking at the same data that we’ve been monitoring since the beginning of the pandemic,” said Carleo-Evangelist, “including the prevalence of COVID-19 among students on campus, off campus, and among faculty and staff.”
According to UAlbany’s COVID-19 Dashboard, the number of positive students and faculty members tested on campus within the last 14 days is at 57, contrasting the 158 positive tests reported as of Feb. 10.
The statewide mask mandate was initially implemented in December due to the surge in COVID-19 cases from the emergence of the Omicron virus.
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