Masks will no longer be required in classrooms starting May 19.

The announcement came in an email addressed to Kent State students, faculty and staff from Manfred van Dulmen, senior associate provost for academic affairs and chair of the Pandemic Leadership Committee.

“This is based on the current COVID-19 community levels of the individual counties where we have campuses and locations,” Van Dulmen said in the email.

Masks will still be required in healthcare settings and in the Child Development Center on the Kent Campus, the email stated.

While there is an 82 percent employment vaccination rate, nearly 80 percent of students are vaccinated across all campuses and 89 percent of resident hall students on Kent’s campus are vaccinated.

Booster shots will no longer be required starting at the beginning of the summer session, the email stated.

Vaccines and boosters will continue to be available at the DeWeese Health Center on the Kent Campus and at numerous other locations throughout Northeast Ohio.

There will still be testing available at DeWeese Health Center for those who have symptoms or at Visit Healthcare at the Eastway Lounge on the Kent Campus through the 2022 spring semester.

Free at-home COVID-19 test kits will be available on all campuses. There will still be monitoring of wastewater from campus housing to look for spikes in virus shed to identify possible outbreaks, the email stated.

“Should case rates increase, we may bring back on-campus testing or random sample testing,” Van Dulmen explained in the email. “How much testing and how often will be determined by the size of the outbreak within our university community and within the counties where our campuses and programs are located.”

Anyone who tests positive should report their case to the university’s COVID Response Team by calling 330-672-2525.

The university will provide isolation rooms for students who live in residence halls and test positive, if they choose not to isolate at home. The university will provide quarantine rooms for residence hall students who were exposed to the virus but who are not up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines.

Alexandra Golden is an assigning editor. Contact her at [email protected].