Cal Poly brings back campus mask mandate as COVID cases surge at end of spring quarter
Cal Poly has brought back its campus-wide mask mandate as COVID-19 cases rise at a “slow but steady” rate, according to an email sent by the San Luis Obispo university’s public safety director on Monday.
The mask mandate, which was officially reinstated Tuesday will remain in effect at through at least June 12, Anthony Knight wrote in the email.
It’s in effect for all indoor events and activities — including for those visiting the Performing Arts Center. Masks will not be required for outdoor events such as the university’s graduation ceremonies on June 11 and 12, according to Cal Poly spokesman Matt Lazier.
“While the latest numbers are not on the order of what we saw during the worst of the winter Omicron surge, they are still concerning from a health and safety standpoint,” Knight wrote.
Cal Poly’s COVID-19 data dashboard shows that about 8.3% to 9.6% of the coronavirus tests taken on campus over the past week have come back positive. That’s the highest rate since January, when the university saw up to 13.9% of coronavirus tests come back positive.
The university’s recent COVID-19 case increase is more dramatic than that of the general San Luis Obispo County population.
The county’s COVID-19 data show that as of May 16, 6.9% of COVID-19 tests have come back positive — compared to a peak of 23.5% in January.
Cal Poly dropped its mask mandate when the rate of positive COVID-19 cases decreased dramatically after the post-New Year surge.
“When we informed the campus community in February that we were lifting the campus’s indoor mask mandate, we indicated that we would monitor health and safety conditions and would reinstate the mandate should those conditions require it,” Knight wrote in his email. “Unfortunately, that time has come.”
The campus mask mandate applies to all students, employees and visitors — regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status. About 94.8% of Cal Poly students and 90.6% of faculty and staff are vaccinated against the virus, according to the university.
“Our experts continue to recommend surgical masks, KN95s and N95s as the standard for our community,” Knight wrote in his email. “Cal Poly continues to make N95s and surgical masks available to all students and employees at the University Union, Kennedy Library and Recreation Center.”
The university will also have surgical masks available to students and employees at the entrances to large campus facilities, according to Knight’s email.
Students are still required to fill out their daily symptom screener to obtain a pass to access campus and Cal Poly “strongly encourage(s) all faculty and staff to ask students to present these passes in university facilities,” the email says.
As of Monday, a total of 1,478 students living on campus and 2,321 living off campus had tested positive for COVID-19 since July 10, 2020 — including 46 on campus and 29 off campus in the past seven days, according to the university’s data.
Plus, 40 students were in isolation on campus as of Monday, and one was in quarantine, the university’s data show.
This story was originally published May 31, 2022 at 10:37 AM with the headline "Cal Poly brings back campus mask mandate as COVID cases surge at end of spring quarter."
