July 28, 2021 — Updated Masking Requirements for Campus
Dear Whitman faculty, staff and students,
If you have been following the current state of the COVID pandemic in Walla Walla, where we are seeing significant numbers of new infections and hospitalizations, it will not surprise you that the county is categorized as a “high transmission” location by the CDC, who yesterday recommended that all people in high transmission areas resume masking indoors. While the vast majority of Walla Walla’s COVID cases are in unvaccinated people and our campus community reports an 86% vaccination rate, the Cabinet and faculty leadership, with input from our consulting epidemiologist, feel it is in our best interest to return to requiring all individuals, including those who are fully vaccinated, to wear face masks when they are indoors in group settings or public spaces. Individuals alone in a private office do not need to wear masks.
Properly worn, three-layer cloth face masks or the equivalent significantly reduces the spread of the coronavirus. Studies on the transmissibility of the Delta variant continue to show that it is more contagious than other strains, and although fully vaccinated people are very unlikely to become seriously sick they can still spread the virus. Building layers of protection with vaccinations and face masks will substantially aid in preventing any on-campus spread of COVID-19. We also encourage you to promote public health in Walla Walla by wearing face masks when out in the community, including at stores, recreational facilities and other indoor public spaces.
As an institute of education, we know that the research on COVID-19 will provide new information over the coming months that we will incorporate into our lives. We will also continue to adhere to local, state and federal guidelines. Our campus community will need to remain flexible in our response as we continue learning about this virus, and there may be periods like this when we need to temporarily implement more restrictive COVID practices.
We do not intend for the face masking requirement to be in place for the entire academic year, and will reevaluate conditions prior to the start of the fall semester. Obviously we hope the circumstances will improve so that we can lift this restriction, but we are exploring policies that would allow flexibility in situations where masking may be detrimental to the teaching and learning experience. Imposing this restriction even temporarily is not a decision we have made lightly, but we believe in following the science to best protect the health of our faculty, staff and students.
Best,
Peter Harvey
Coronavirus Task Force Chair