Students around campus | Photo by Jessica Fugett | The Wright State Guardian
Wright State University (WSU) President Sue Edwards has lifted all Covid-19 restrictions for fully vaccinated individuals on the Dayton and Lake campuses.
New guidelines
In a campus-wide communication, President Edwards announced fully vaccinated persons, including staff, students, faculty and visitors no longer have to follow Covid-19 safety measures while on the Dayton or Lake Campuses.
Vaccinated individuals no longer have to wear masks while indoors or outdoors, and no longer have to physically distance themselves while inside or outside. In person events are also set to resume.
Partially vaccinated and completely unvaccinated people must still follow covid-19 safety measures while on campus. Those wishing to continue to wear a mask even while fully vaccinated may still do so.
Ohio cases
This decision comes after the decline in Covid-19 cases in Ohio and the lifting of coronavirus restrictions by Gov. Mike Dewine as advised by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
The Ohio Health Department recently reported that the two-week statewide average for Covid-19 cases is about 49.5 cases per 100,000 residents, with just about an average of 632 cases a day.
This continuing drop in cases is partially due to the increase in the Ohio vaccination rate. The Health Department reported that 4.7 million Ohioans are fully vaccinated.
In addition to the declining Ohio cases is the decline on the WSU campuses. According to WSU’s covid-19 dashboard as of June 7, there are zero official cases among students, staff and asymmetric people on campus.
As of June 2, Dewine lifted mask mandates for fully vaccinated Ohioans. It is not yet clear if this mandate has had any effect on the states’ cases.
Student opinions
These new guidelines cause great excitement among students who have been operating in a virtual covid college environment for a little over a year now.
“I am super excited to see that the restrictions were lifted. It’s the peak of things starting to get back to normal.” Makayla Williamson, a WSU student wrote.
Not announced yet are whether capacity limits will remain, and how the university will determine vaccinated individuals from unvaccinated individuals, or if the university will require vaccination for students or not.
