USC anticipates changes to masking rules


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USC plans to release a specific timeline about eased mask restrictions Friday or early next week, said Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sarah Van Orman in a student media health briefing Wednesday. The University will also consider the effects of Spring Break in this decision due to heightened exposure risk with travels. 

USC dropped the coronavirus testing requirement for fully vaccinated and boosted students Tuesday. Individuals with approved exemptions must test every 72 hours and those with incomplete vaccination status must test every four days. Nearly 82% of students, staff and faculty are currently fully vaccinated and boosted. 

The change follows decreased positivity rates at the University and coronavirus regulation changes on the federal and local levels. Positivity rates have lowered to around 0.5%, a decline from nearly 15% at the beginning of the semester. 

“When you test people for a [virus] that’s becoming very rare, because our numbers are getting so low, you can start to get a test where the test is more likely to be a false positive than a true positive particularly in the absence of symptoms,” Van Orman said. 

The University will announce testing requirements for students following Spring Break, and will distribute antigen tests prior to travels. The option to test will remain readily available to students, with all testing locations continuing to operate at normal hours. USC will also continue providing isolation services for students who test positive for the coronavirus. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention introduced a new framework for community mitigation measures, including masking and testing. The new framework changed some definitions of levels, which previously ranged between “high,” “moderate,” “minimal” and “low” and was based on the number of new cases. The new framework reflects the number of hospitalizations, in addition to new case numbers. For USC, this means that it is likely that mandates and regulations will begin to change.

“​​It sounds like a minimal kind of thing but it actually really was a fundamental change,” Van Orman said. “We’re entering an era where we are moving from a pandemic to an endemic … We are in a situation as a community where we would have cases exponentially increase and, more importantly, the cases don’t overwhelm the healthcare system.”

L.A. County is still in the high range according to the CDC; however, Van Orman said they anticipate that L.A. County will be in the medium or low range by the end of this week. This change drives the announcement by the head of the L.A. Department of Public Health that will no longer require masks Friday. The department will continue to require masking in hospitals, nursing homes, K-12 schools and other high risk areas. 

The University’s upcoming statement will outline next steps for the school’s masking policies. 

“As people come back to the classrooms, we want to make sure everybody has time to understand what the changes are, educate people about them and make sure people are comfortable if we do change the requirements,” Van Orman said.