Ohio State reports low COVID cases, could protocols change?

​​​COLUMBUS, Ohio — Students at Ohio State said the decline in COVID-19 case numbers has already led to improved campus life, but it remains to be seen if university officials will relax COVID-19 protocols.

What You Need To Know

• Columbus Public Health recommended ending the city’s mask mandate
• Ohio State has not yet made an announcement about its plans for masks
• The CDC changed its guidance Friday, creating a window for schools to relax rules

Ohio State officials have a decision to make about campus mask rules after Columbus Public Health announced Monday that it is recommending the city’s mask requirement end on March 7.

The campus mask mandate has been in effect alongside the citywide mask requirement throughout this academic year. 

Universities in the U.S. are evaluating their mask policies after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday that required masking in schools and colleges is not necessary in many regions of the country, with cases nationally at the lowest level since late July. 

Ohio State Spokesperson Ben Johnson shared a brief statement with Spectrum News Monday.

“We are in close contact with local officials. If/when the city requirement changes, we will likely have more to share,” he said.

The university’s COVID-19 dashboard reports a positivity rate of 0.62% for students for the past week, down from 7.4% one month ago. Students living in residence halls and in Greek life are tested weekly. 

Freshman Joseph Richmond said the protocols on campus have gotten a lot less strict, especially for the gyms. Richmond, who is the co-president of the Olympic weightlifting club, said he is lucky that his group usually trains at a gym in Gahanna, given that on-campus sports clubs weren’t able to use university facilities in January during the virus surge.

“January is a big training month for us, so it was nice to be able to do that as a team because we wouldn’t have been able to were we at Ohio State,” he said. 

On Jan. 31, the university brought on-campus dining locations to full capacity, reopened certain athletic facilities, stopped requiring masks when people are actively exercising, resumed club sports and allowed student organizations to meet in person. 

Richmond said now that masks aren’t required for strenuous exercise, he doesn’t mind the mask mandate. However, he does wish the university would move its COVID-19 testing location out of the Jesse Owens North recreation center because he said it would be nice for students to be able to exercise there.

“As for the mask policy, I think I’m totally okay with what it is right now. I think it’s fair to say that we should be wearing them between platforms and between machines and things like that, but it is nice that we don’t have to wear them when we’re actually performing lifts or running,” he said. 

With Ohio State’s spring break in two weeks, Brandon Young, a sophomore studying political science, said it would be too soon to lift the mask requirement. He did say that masks are starting to feel less necessary, especially with 93% of the university vaccinated. 

“If they were to remove it, I feel like it would be sometime after spring break, and it would take effect by April. By then, there’s only going to be like a month where it’s going to be lifted,” he said. “If we were to remove masks right now, I think that’s a bit premature.”

Over winter break, Young said he contracted the virus, which landed him in the university’s isolation housing at the start of the semester. He passed the time watching NFL playoff games and getting a head start on school work. Neither he or his roommate in isolation got sick. 

Young said he hasn’t minded the COVID-19 protocols because wearing a mask on campus is better than taking Zoom classes from his dorm, which was how he experienced his first year in Columbus.

“It was much harder to find opportunities to get involved on campus, to meet different people,” he said. “This year, definitely, there are a lot more opportunities. I’ve gotten more involved on campus because a lot of clubs have been opening back up, and the in-person learning has been very nice.”