Masks, etc., to continue on campus through winter quarter

We noted that earlier this week that LA County had relaxed some of its coronavirus requirements for indoor locations as of yesterday. UCLA's position up to that point was that it was following County rules, even though state rules were less strict. So, it was unclear whether there would be some change in UCLA rules in response to the County's move. A recent announcement indicates no change in winter quarter, but a possible change in spring:

February 24, 2022

COVID-19 Response and Recovery Task Force

Dear Bruin Community:

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is set to ease restrictions on indoor masking for fully vaccinated individuals at certain businesses and venues that adopt the appropriate vaccine verification processes beginning tomorrow (Friday, Feb. 25). These changes will not apply to UCLA at this time, and our universal indoor masking protocols will remain in effect until further notice.

COVID-19 case numbers at UCLA have significantly reduced since the peak in January, but the case numbers are still much higher than where we were last summer and fall. For this reason, the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Task Force believes it is prudent to maintain our current protections, including indoor masking for all students, faculty, staff and visitors, regardless of vaccination status. 

The task force continues to monitor conditions and the evolving guidance from LACDPH to determine how to best align state and local orders with what is the best approach for the UCLA community.

We are optimistic that conditions on campus will continue to improve and we will be able to ease the indoor masking requirements and make other changes that will take effect this spring quarter.

Thank you again for your continued cooperation and patience.

Sincerely,

Michael J. Beck
Administrative Vice Chancellor
Co-chair, COVID-19 Response and Recovery Task Force

Megan McEvoy
Professor, Institute for Society and Genetics, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics
Co-chair, COVID-19 Response and Recovery Task Force

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Source: https://covid-19.ucla.edu/indoor-masking-protocols-remain-unchanged-for-winter-quarter/.

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Note: An item in the LA Times provides some rationale for the UCLA decision:

Americans are no longer advised to wear masks in public indoor settings in many parts of the country under new federal health guidance unveiled Friday — but the same can’t immediately be said for Los Angeles County. The new guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ease general masking recommendations on a county-by-county basis based on local coronavirus case and hospitalization rates, as well as the share of a region’s inpatient beds that are occupied by COVID-19 patients. Using those metrics, counties are sorted into one of three COVID-19 Community Levels: low, medium or high.

As of Friday, L.A. County officially remains in the high category, the only one for which the CDC continues to recommend universal indoor masking. But L.A. County is on the knife’s edge of leaving the high level and entering the medium category, a transition that could occur as soon as next week...

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-02-25/how-will-new-cdc-mask-guidelines-affect-los-angeles-county.