The university has begun to lift some of its COVID-19 restrictions on campus; as of Feb. 18, community members actively participating in physical activity no longer are required to be masked.
“As of February 18, 2022, all actively exercising individuals, including practicing and competing student-athletes, are permitted to remove their masks during activity. Indoor masking is still required in all other circumstances (i.e. navigating the building, sitting in the stands, etc),” according to the Gosman Facilities policies page.
Though community members are no longer required to wear masks while working out, they are still required to be masked when walking throughout the building or not actively participating in any activity, according to the Brandeis Athletics Mask Guidelines page.
“Waltham mask mandates are still in effect, so all gym users and spectators are required to wear high-quality masks (surgical, N95, KF94 or KN95) at all times while inside Gosman or Linsey, unless actively swimming. Cloth masks are not permitted,” according to the page.
Additionally, the university has updated the testing policies. According to a recent email from Brandeis administration, vaccinated students are required to test once a week. Vaccinated faculty, staff, and affiliated members are recommended to test once a week, but testing will be optional. Despite these regulations, testing will be available for anyone who wishes to get a test so long as they are asymptomatic. Due to the less frequent testing, all testing will only occur at the Shapiro Science Center.
The travel policy remains exactly the same for unvaccinated community members. For vaccinated community members, however, there is no longer a need to register domestic or international travel. Upon return, all fully vaccinated and boosted travelers outside of NewEngland are required to submit a test to receive a negative result. According to the email, “Brandeis recommends all travelers take a second PCR test 72 hours after their first test.”
Masking policies have been relaxed: masks are optional on campus for vaccinated community members. Masks are mandated in all classes, spectator at indoor events, Brandeis transportation, and anywhere else where there is a sign that masks are required. A green or yellow Passport is still required to enter the library.
The email includes that masking is always an option and people should always have a mask at hand in respect of other community members.
The COVID-19 dashboard will be updated twice weekly instead of daily, according to the email.
The change in masking policies comes as the city of Waltham also begins to lessen its COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines. The city of Waltham announced that the wearing of masks in indoor settings is optional, according to the Waltham city website. Though, according to the page, “per the State of [Massachusetts], mask requirements will remain in certain locations such as on public transportation (including MBTA, commuter rail, buses, ferries, airplanes, rideshares and taxis), healthcare facilities, and more.” Beginning March 7, the city of Waltham will lift its mask mandate for students and staff in Waltham Public Schools.
Andrea Dine, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, sent an email out to the Brandeis community regarding returning to campus after the February break. Dine wrote that the, “days following breaks are our riskiest time periods for contagions.” This trend of an uptick in cases after a break was seen after the Thanksgiving break in the Fall 2021 semester, according to The Brandeis Hoot’s COVID-19 Dashboard.
Dine asked community members to test if possible before returning to campus. If the test results come back positive, community members were instructed to stay at home and isolate and contact the Brandeis Case Tracing program. Upon returning to campus, according to Dine, community members were required to submit a COVID-19 test and remain in a soft quarantine until the negative result is received.
While in soft quarantine, students were asked to keep their masks on whenever in the presence of other community members, avoid large gatherings and use the grab-and-go food options including the green boxes and the Bite app, until a negative test result comes back. According to Dine, the expected turnaround time for receiving test results is within 24 hours.
