Ohio State, U. of Cincinnati, to require masks indoors

COLUMBUS >> Both Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati announced this week that masks will be mandatory inside campus buildings amid a new wave of statewide masking requirements as coronavirus cases rise.

Ohio State’s rule, made public Monday, follows updated guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that people who are fully vaccinated should resume wearing masks indoors if they live in areas where the virus is surging.

President Kristina M. Johnson sent an email with the new guidance to the Ohio State community Monday afternoon, saying it came into effect immediately, the Columbus Dispatch

reported.

“Throughout the pandemic, Ohio State has adapted its actions based on new information and expertise from local, state and federal health officials as well as our own medical and public health experts,” Johnson said.

The University of Cincinnati announced its universal indoor mask mandate Tuesday, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported. The city of Dayton has announced its own mask mandate inside city buildings, as has the Ohio Supreme Court for its downtown Columbus building.

Last month, Cleveland State University said it would require all students living on-campus to be vaccinated.

The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in

Ohio has risen over the past two weeks from 468 new cases per day on July 18 to almost 1,200 new cases per day on Aug. 1, according to data collected by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

Students and others attending the outdoor commencement ceremony at Ohio Stadium on Saturday will not be required to wear masks there, University spokesperson Ben Johnson told the newspaper. Participants in the graduation ceremony at the Schottenstein Center on Sunday will need to wear a mask.

Also Tuesday, the Dispatch reported that central Ohio’s four major hospital systems will require that all employees receive the coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year.