Coronavirus Task Force Update for Spring 2022
As we end one year and prepare for the next, we would like to pause and reflect on the university’s successful return to a full on-campus experience this past semester — and extend a heartfelt thank you to our university community. We would not have been able to manage transmission of COVID-19 on our campus without the cooperation, understanding and compassion of all our students, faculty and staff.
Our efforts over the past several months were successful as UNC had fewer cases of COVID-19 reported this fall (228 from Aug. 23-Dec. 6) compared to the spring (276 from Jan. 11- May 7). That difference is more impressive when you consider the fall semester was just beginning as the much more transmissible Delta variant was gaining ground, and we were welcoming our entire community back to campus and inside classrooms for the first time since March 2020.
Our high vaccination rates, coupled with our indoor mask policy, have allowed us to reclaim a sense of normalcy through this pandemic, but we are not yet in the clear. Case transmission and hospitalizations continue to be high, and the new Omicron variant of concern has many public health officials on alert.
At this time, we do not expect any changes to our current prevention efforts for the spring 2022 semester. This includes maintaining our COVID-19 vaccination requirement as well as our indoor mask policy.
The university remains committed to prioritizing the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff and will continue to monitor developments related to COVID-19 and provide updates on our coronavirus website.
