CU Boulder to go mask-optional starting next Monday

On Monday, Feb. 28, CU Boulder Provost Russell Moore and Chief Operating Officer Patrick O’Rourke announced the University will transition into a mask-optional setting as COVID-19 transmission numbers decrease. 

Starting Monday, Mar. 7 at 6 a.m. masks will be optional for CU students, faculty and staff. This announcement came three days after the COVID-19 booster requirement was due. 

In the release, they stated that 90% of Coloradans are immune to the omicron variant and that high levels of vaccination and boosters among the CU community helped make this decision. 

“We recognize that members among our students, faculty and staff have different comfort levels in public spaces and that some members of our community have personal circumstances that would counsel in favor of continued masking,” they wrote. “While wearing masks will soon be optional on campus, we encourage those who prefer to do so to continue wearing them and we support that decision.”

They also acknowledged that while masking on campus is now optional, COVID transmission is still happening and campus resources such as testing and vaccines will still be available. 

This decision comes nearly two years after the campus closed on March 11, 2020 and a year-and-a-half after masking on campus was required in the fall 2020 semester. 

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