Georgetown University mandates masks in class for the fall semester due to COVID and monkeypox
Georgetown University is calling for its students to keep wearing masks for the fall semester due to lingering COVID cases, and fears over an outbreak of monkeypox.
The mask mandate is only in effect in certain areas of the oldest Catholic and Jesuit university in the U.S., including classrooms and laboratories. It is optional in ‘informal gatherings’, like libraries, research laboratories, dining facilities, dorms and study spaces, according to the school’s public health and university operations.
Students also have to compile with wearing masks in health care and early childhood education facilities, as well public transportation sponsored by the university. They must also wear a mask for ten days from the date of exposure or infection if they test positive for COVID or have been exposed to someone who has tested positive, as the school aligns to D.C. and CDC health guidance.
Georgetown is also mandating for its student body, faculty and staff to be fully vaccinated, including boosters, if they are eligible, unless a medical condition or religious exemption is approved.
The campus of Georgetown University in Washington D.C. will have a mask mandate in place due to the administration’s concern of increasing COVID-19 and monkeypox cases
While masks are required in classrooms and laboratories, it is optional in ‘informal gatherings’, like libraries, research laboratories, and dorms (pictured). The first day of classes at the Jesuit university started on Wednesday
Students must also wear a mask for ten days from the date of exposure or infection if they test positive for COVID or have been exposed to someone who has tested positive. Pictured: A student submitting his PCR test at Georgetown University on August 19th
Georgetown said students, staff and faculty must also wear a mas on university-sponsored public transportation, health care facilities. However, in places of ‘informal gatherings,’ such as research laboratories, dining facilities, libraries and study spaces, students don’t have to wear a mask
Many institutions of high education across the U.S. have restored mask mandates within the last academic year (2021-2022) due to a rising amount of COVID cases on campuses.
Colleges in Washington, D.C., New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Texas reimposed a range of virus measures in April, including mask mandates.
Other than Georgetown, these schools include Rice University, Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, and American University. Syracuse University followed suit, while Howard University in DC shut down and switched to remote classes.
At the time, Georgetown said it had no choice but to reintroduce indoor masks requirements due to a ‘significant increase’ in COVID cases.
However, as of Thursday, 98 percent of Georgetown’s faculty, staff and students are vaccinated against the virus. However, 116 positive COVID cases on the university’s campus were reported from August 14 to August 20, 2022 – it’s second highest tally this year, after 117 students tested positive between July 17 and July 23, and 168 between May 22 until May 28, according to Georgetown’s COVID dashboard.
Georgetown’s COVID dashboard shows a fluctuation of COVID cases of this summer, with 116 students testing positive for the virus, according to the universit’y latest data from the week of August 14th to August 20th
The university’s decision to continue mask mandates comes as the CDC relaxed its COVID-19 guidelines earlier this month, dropping the recommendation that people quarantine themselves if they come into close contact with an infected person.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also said people no longer need to stay at least six feet away from others.
The changes, which come more than two-and-a-half years after the start of the pandemic, are driven by a recognition that an estimated 95 percent of Americans, ages 16 and older, have acquired some level of immunity, either from being vaccinated or infected, agency officials said.
The CDC also dropped a ‘test-to-stay’ recommendation, which said students exposed to COVID-19 could regularly test — instead of quarantining at home — to keep attending school. With no quarantine recommendation anymore, the testing option disappeared too.
Masks are no longer advised and are only being recommended in areas where community transmission is deemed high, or if a person is considered at high risk of severe illness.
Georgetown’s first day of class was on Wednesday, with many alumni and student parents criticizing the university’s decision to bring back a mask mandate to campus.
‘Enjoy the mask, kids! So what’s the off ramp Gtown? COVID is here to stay, so will you be masking in classes for eternity?,’ wrote an alumnus on Twitter. ‘COVID is here to stay, so will you be masking in classes for eternity? You’re an embarrassment. I’ve donated for almost 15 years since I was a senior, through all the embarrassing headlines you’ve made the last few yrs. I’m done.’
‘When will it end?,’ another user on Twitter shared, adding: ‘As a parent, am I supposed to be keep paying full tuition for a child who’s being denied a full, fruitful academic experience by an out of touch administration?’
‘Stop requiring masks,’ a different individual tweeted. ‘It’s cruel and stupid at this point and kids are paying too much money to be subjected to this intrusive nonsense in august and September 2022.’
‘Great to see so many smiling face on campus!’ another person shared on Twitter, criticizing the university for not following up with its own set of rules. ‘Georgetown required parents to wear masks indoors on campus during move-in, including in their kids’ dorm room. Not what these photos show.’
Student parents, alumni and others connected to Georgetown criticized the university’s new set of health rules on Twitter after being informed about the mask mandate. Some say it is not in line with CDC guidelines, which the university claims it is
Meanwhile, Georgetown is also restating a mask mandate after a person on campus tested positive for monkeypox in June.
‘We are trying to make sure that some of these universities also have doses of vaccine available so if there is a case, we can identify those contexts really immediately,’ DC Health epidemiologist Dr. Anil Mangla told NBC Washington.
Students enrolled in a college or university in the District of Columbia and who are at least 18 are eligible to receive the monkeypox vaccine in the area. In its message on health guidelines for the upcoming year, Georgetown said the US declared a public health emergency regarding the disease on August 4
On Thursday, the number of monkeypox cases reported globally dropped by 21 percent in the last week, reversing a month-long trend of rising infections, according to a World Health Organization report issued Thursday.
Cases in the Americas accounted for 60 percent of cases in the past month, WHO said, while cases in Europe comprised about 38 percent. It said infections in the Americas showed ‘a continuing steep rise.’
Since monkeypox outbreaks in Europe and North America were identified in May, WHO and other health agencies have noted that its spread was almost exclusively in men who have sex with men.
With globally limited vaccine supplies, authorities in the U.S., Europe and the U.K. have all begun rationing doses to stretch supplies by up to five times.
WHO has advised countries that have vaccines to prioritize immunization for those at high risk of the disease, including gay and bisexual men with multiple sex partners, and for health workers, laboratory staff and outbreak responders.
