We thought 2022 was going to be the year of calm, predictability, and things just overall not being terrible. Hopefully, this policy enactment at the University of Idaho doesn't cause too much of an uproar. We're already uproared out for 2022, thank you very much.

Plain and simple, UI is extending its on-campus mask mandate into the foreseeable future. UI president Scott Green elaborates:

Unfortunately, the omicron variant of COVID-19 is causing us to reevaluate how we thought we would enter the spring semester. Because of omicron’s high transmission, we will begin the semester with the same safety protocols that were in place in the fall.

Luckily, Green knew there'd be some pushback on the latest rule extension, and he addresses that as well:

While you may feel as frustrated by the setback of the omicron variant as we are, we ask for your patience as we work to keep our campus healthy and offer live instruction. We expect to have more details after our consultations with Idaho Public Health and Gritman Medical Center scheduled for later this week.

Specifically, the mask mandate covers all buildings, offices, and common areas on campus. If social distancing is possible inside an office, masks are not required. University of Idaho also plans on holding vaccine clinics on their Moscow campus beginning as early as next week.

When will the mask mandate be pulled, or even adjusted? Green says and his team are reassessing the situation weekly, speeding things up from a once-every-three-weeks checkup they were previously implementing.

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