McMaster will remain open despite the recent COVID-19 outbreak

Elisa Do

March 23, 2022

Est. Reading Time: 1 minute

C/O Georgia Kirkos

Batton down the hatches cause Mac is staying the course for the rest of the semester

McMaster will remain open for the rest of the semester, despite over 100 COVID-19 cases reported last week.

Sean Van Koughnett, the dean of students, said that the numbers do not come as a shock given how many students are back on campus now.

“It's not necessarily surprising, and in fact, the rates have been, in my view, relatively low throughout the term given we have around 3500 students living in close quarters in residence as well as thousands off-campus. It's a very social environment,” said Van Koughnett.

On March 21, Hamilton repealed the city’s face coverings and masks by-law, making face coverings no longer required in places other than high-risk settings such as public transit.

The City of Hamilton’s Face Coverings or Mask By-law 20-155 was repealed on March 21, 2022. Masks are still required in certain circumstances and in specific high risk settings. Read more: https://t.co/7OD4DxMm3h pic.twitter.com/zbhggVHcy8
— City of Hamilton (@cityofhamilton) March 22, 2022

However, McMaster has announced that the university’s mask mandate will remain in place for the rest of the semester.

Van Koughnett said that the university’s decision to keep its mask mandate in place offers an additional layer of protection that is still necessary.

Whether other protocols, such as completion of daily screenings via MacCheck, will continue to be in place, are ongoing discussions the university continues to have.