Earlier this summer, when we announced a COVID-19 indoor face covering requirement to begin the fall semester, we indicated that we would provide you with an update on its status by or before Sept. 17. Since then, as the campus leadership team added layers of health and safety protocols to expand pandemic protections, we used Sept. 17 as a touchstone to revisit them. 

We are encouraged by the general downward trend in the university’s positive COVID-19 cases and the upward trend in vaccinations among students, faculty and staff. We are going to keep the momentum going by maintaining our focus on efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. The pandemic-related guidance in place now will remain in effect until Oct. 15, based on the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 virus and its variants.  

We will consider several factors when making the decision to alter COVID-19 guidance, including CDC, NCDHHS, and UNC System policies; local public health guidance; the level of transmission in North Carolina; and the overall vaccination rate in our state. Ideally, vaccination rates in our state will continue to increase to a large percentage of the population overall, a level that public health experts indicate would provide greater protection against COVID-19 and its variants.

Read the full message from Chancellor Sartarelli.