Dear Mason Faculty and Staff:听
As we welcome students back for the first day of Spring 2022 classes, I want to thank you for your collective work and diligence to make this spring鈥檚 resumption of classes another safe one. On Friday we completed a very successful pre-arrival week of screening and other preparations.听
We continue to encourage all members of the Mason faculty and staff to complete an on-campus COVID screening test when asked so that we can extend our track record of keeping the prevalence of COVID-19 on our campuses to a minimum. However, in observance of Virginia Department of Human Resource Management directives released last week, we now strongly encourage unvaccinated employees or high-contact role employees to be tested, which is a departure from our previous requirements for these groups
Because we maintain our own internal testing capacities that do not draw from available tests in the greater Virginia community, we are able to continue conducting more frequent and large-scale screening of Mason students, faculty, and staff. This remains a key part of our larger strategy to track and minimize the spread of COVID-19 this spring.听COVID testing centers will continue to operate on our Fairfax, Arlington and Sci-Tech campuses with free COVID tests available both by appointment and also on a walk-in basis.
We also will continue to operate a free drive-through diagnostic COVID testing center at Peterson Hall for members of our university community who are experiencing COVID-like symptoms.
As a reminder, Mason offers free testing, masks, and vaccines to all students, faculty, and staff. We continue to strongly encourage you to get tested, use N-95 or KN-95 masks when you observe our masking requirements, and get vaccinated and boosted. These are the three most effective ways to minimize the spread of COVID-19 on our campuses.听听
Thank you again for contributing to a successful return to classes. I鈥檒l see you around our campuses.
Sincerely,
Gregory Washington
President
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