{"id":2951,"date":"2022-02-18T15:43:38","date_gmt":"2022-02-18T21:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/covid-19\/?p=2951"},"modified":"2022-02-18T15:43:38","modified_gmt":"2022-02-18T21:43:38","slug":"campus-mask-policy-encouraged-not-required","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/covid-19\/2022\/02\/18\/campus-mask-policy-encouraged-not-required\/","title":{"rendered":"Campus Mask Policy: Encouraged, not required"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Effective immediately, face coverings are encouraged but no longer required in all indoor public spaces.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This University masking policy change reflects several indicators reviewed by the COVID-19 Response Team every week. We\u2019ve seen both the positivity rates and the number of positive cases decline on campus and for Buchanan county. Additionally, we\u2019ve seen the same decreasing trend in the local hospitalization rates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Masks are recommended for those who are unvaccinated and\/or have underlying health concerns. Learn more about CDC mask recommendations <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/prevent-getting-sick\/types-of-masks.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The University continues to encourage COVID-19 vaccination and will host another <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/missouriwestern21722.timetap.com\/#\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">vaccine clinic<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> with Heart to Heart International on Thursday, February 24.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>COVID-19 Testing<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Testing remains a very important tool in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Every home in the U.S. is eligible to order 4 free at-home COVID-19 tests. Visit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.covidtests.gov\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">COVIDtests.gov<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to order your tests.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Visit our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/covid-19\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">COVID-19 webpage<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for local testing opportunities.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Stay home if you are ill<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you develop symptoms, get a test and stay home.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Faculty and staff should use sick leave or vacation hours. If you do not have sufficient leave to support your paid absence from work, you may be eligible to<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dynamicforms.ngwebsolutions.com\/Submit\/Page?form=cc0a930f-f0da-4020-80b5-9c1db1421216&amp;section=280644&amp;page=256504&amp;token=mL5yDT-0UnYIjWCB3iBxrjoS2AEYnmQaV6NqjIAad8E\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">request COVID-19 Pandemic Leave<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Students should submit a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/saem\/student-assistance\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Disrupted Student Assistance Notification<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> form.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We wanted to communicate this decision as quickly as possible, and we appreciate your patience as we are in the process of updating our webpage and signs around campus to reflect this change.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The COVID-19 Response Team will continue to meet weekly to review data and adjust mitigation strategies, including the campus face covering policy, as warranted. The team reviews campus and community vaccination rates, positivity rates, and local hospitalization rates, among other data points, and is continually guided by the best available science-based evidence and expert recommendations in order to make informed decisions about campus activities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Additional information can be found under our campus<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/covid-19\/#Guidelines\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">COVID-19 guidelines<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thank you for all you&#8217;re doing to help make our campus a safe place to be!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Best,<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Elizabeth<br \/>\nDr. Elizabeth Kennedy, President<br \/>\n´óÏó´«Ã½<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Effective immediately, face coverings are encouraged but no longer required in all indoor public spaces.\u00a0 This University masking policy change reflects several indicators reviewed by the COVID-19 Response Team every week. We\u2019ve seen both the positivity rates and the number of positive cases decline on campus and for Buchanan county. Additionally, we\u2019ve seen the same [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[528,527,529],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/covid-19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2951"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/covid-19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/covid-19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/covid-19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/covid-19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2951"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/covid-19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2952,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/covid-19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2951\/revisions\/2952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/covid-19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/covid-19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/covid-19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}