In an email put out by University of Idaho President Scott Green and Provost and Executive Vice President Torrey Lawrence, UI now strongly recommends all students wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status.
The email also recommends being vaccinated, but neither masking or vaccinations are required.
This decision was based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new guidelines for masks, with the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant.
Boise State University came to a similar decision days prior, strongly recommending but not requiring masks. Meanwhile, Washington State University is requiring their students to be fully vaccinated by the beginning of the fall semester.
Latah County is currently labelled as having high levels of community transmission, according to the CDC, with 43.8% of county residents being vaccinated as of July 30.
“We continue to monitor the increase of the Delta variant in our state and will work with Public Health and Gritman Medical Center to determine what is best for our institution as we near the start of the fall semester,” the email stated.
Haadiya Tariq can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @haadiyatariq