In a campus-wide email regarding updates to COVID-19 policies, the office of San Diego State President Adela de la Torre announced changes to COVID-19 testing, clearance status, prevention efforts, quarantine and facial coverings.
SDSU will discontinue surveillance testing for students and employees regardless of their vaccination status. The use of WebPortal and the Campus Directory to confirm COVID clearance status for students, faculty and staff will also be discontinued.
Regarding prevention efforts, students in residential housing this fall will be required to test both before and upon move-in.
Those exposed to someone COVID-19 positive and who are asymptomatic are not required to quarantine. If symptomatic, quarantine and testing will be required. SDSU community members who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 must also be isolated for a period of 10 days.
As of June 1, facial coverings are recommended and encouraged but are no longer required on campus.
Facial coverings are required for individuals with COVID-like symptoms coming to campus for COVID-19 testing as well as individuals in limited environments that have licensing or other requirements.
Kristal Singh, a senior and Public Health major, is excited for the lifting of the mask requirement and believes other students will be too.
“I think students are going to be happy that after two years we are going to see each other’s faces,” Singh said. “The mask covers so much of your face, so you don’t know who the people in your class really are. I think it will be a lot better.”
The email cites high rates of vaccination nationwide and in the SDSU community as the reason for these updated mask policies.
Soran Grant, a junior and Kinesiology major, is in favor of students making the choice to wear or not wear masks.
“I think it was good that they ended the last semester with it (mask requirement) still required but I think it’s fine that they are starting the new year as optional so that they can gauge how much it increases, ” Grant said. “If it’s a drastic increase then you can put it right back on because we definitely want to stop that spread.”
According to the County News Center of San Diego, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has moved San Diego County to its medium-risk level for COVID-19.
A region’s risk level can be low, medium or high and a region’s risk level is determined by hospital bed capacity, hospital admissions and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in the area.
According to San Diego County, there have been just under 11,000 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the last week. New confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been on the rise since the start of summer break.
The campus-wide email also noted that SDSU will continue to test wastewater to quickly identify new COVID-19 cases even as the amount of individual testing on campus decreases. This testing will continue in select residence halls and across campus.
The email also notes the university continues to monitor the situation with COVID-19 and will update this guidance and the campus community as needed.
