Winthrop University transitioned to a mask–optional policy on March 24, ending the mask mandate first enacted fall semester of 2020.
Interim President George Hynd announced the change in an email on March 24 and said the decision was made due to campus and York County’s low infection rate, an 82% vaccination rate among in-person students and the passing of peak flu season.
“This is great news and further evidence that we are transitioning towards the endemic stage of COVID-19,” Hynd said in the email.
Masks are still required in the Health and Counseling Services departments and will still be available through Facilities Management and Student Affairs.
The email encourages mask wearing for those at high risk for illness, those who live with or frequently interact with someone at high risk of illness, those who have not received a COVID-19 vaccine and those with COVID-19 symptoms.
In a poll on The Johnsonian Instagram the day the email was sent, 45 people said they were happy with the mask optional announcement, while 51 said they did not believe it was time yet.
“I’m a little worried about the timing because it’s right after spring break, but I’m cautiously optimistic,” Isaac Pelletier, sophomore economics and integrated marketing communications double major, said in response to the poll. “Plus, I would be lying if I said that it wasn’t nice to not have to wear one.”
Others are not as optimistic, like math education junior Paula Nakamura, who said three days is not enough time to see if cases will go up after spring break because it can take up to a week for someone to get sick once exposed to COVID-19.
“Another thing I don’t like is that people around campus don’t wear masks correctly in the first place, and since spring break just got finished, who knows what could happen,” Nakamura said.
Ellen Wilder-Byrd, associate vice president for communications and marketing, said the lifting of the mandate does not indicate wider COVID-19 policy changes.
“At this time there are no plans to announce other changes to our current COVID-19 management efforts. The lifting of the mask mandate was a stand-alone decision, not part of a larger plan,” she said.
In the email, Hynd said the university will continue to update the COVID-19 dashboard through the spring semester and will monitor the spread of the omicron sub-variant and take precautions as needed.
Vaccine and testing clinics will be available on campus 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 20 and May 2 in McBryde Hall.
