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WASHINGTON - Georgetown University has informed students that it plans to temporarily reinstate its indoor mask requirement beginning Thursday.
The masking rules are for the main and Medical Center campuses, according to an email the University sent out Wednesday.
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Within the email, Georgetown's Chief Medical Ranit Mishori explains that the school made the decision to reinstate its indoor mask requirement due to a significant increase in COVID-19 cases this week. The email states that the rise in cases is mostly coming from undergraduate students.
The campus of Georgetown University is seen nearly empty as classes were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, in Washington, DC, May 7, 2020. - The cost of a university education in the United States has long been eye-watering, with a year costi …
"Thankfully, with the vast majority of our community up to date on vaccination, we are not seeing cases involving severe illness," the message reads. "This increase is partly due to the impact of the BA.2 Omicron subvariant. BA.2 is now the dominant strain in the United States, including in D.C. and on our campuses. While recent studies show that BA.2 does not cause more severe illness than the initial Omicron variant, they also show that BA.2 is even more transmissible.
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"These circumstances present a challenge, but we have learned to adjust our mitigation measures to respond to changing conditions throughout the pandemic. Another adjustment is needed now to curb transmission on campus."
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The university is still offering free KN95 and N95 masks for students on campus and recommends they wear them when attending indoor gatherings and events off-campus as well.