Syracuse, N.Y. – Fully vaccinated Syracuse University students and staff can stop wearing masks on campus outdoors and indoors starting Monday.
Unvaccinated students and staff should continue wearing masks outdoors when they are around others. Unvaccinated people on campus should also wear masks and practice social distancing indoors. SU did not say if the mask requirement for unvaccinated individuals will be based on an honor system or if it will check their vaccination status.
Those are some of the changes to Covid-19 practices SU announced today. The easing of mask-wearing, social distancing and other pandemic-related protocols comes after the state lifted Covid-19 restrictions earlier this week.
Signs on campus reminding students and staff to follow Covid-19 precautions will start coming down in coming days.
“Now as those signs come down, what remains is to say thank you,” Mike Haynie, SU’s vice chancellor said in a prepared statement. “Thank you for your cooperation, commitment and fortitude throughout the past year. Together, we persisted and achieved so much more than most thought was possible.”
SU said all individuals, regardless of vaccine status, will be supported if they choose to continue wearing masks indoors and outdoors.
To comply with state guidelines, students must continue to wear masks on Centro buses and the SU Trolley regardless of vaccination status.
SU will ease capacity restrictions on dining halls, gym and recreation facilities and religious services. It also will lift capacity restrictions in classrooms, offices and conference rooms.
Large indoor gatherings of more than 500 people in the Carrier Dome can only occur if individuals over age 4 can prove full vaccination status or a recent negative Covid-19 test.
James T. Mulder covers health and higher education. Have a news tip? Contact him at (315) 470-2245 or jmulder@syracuse.com