Effective immediately masks will be recommended and not mandatory at Marshall University regardless of community transmission level.

In an email, the university announced that maks will be optional effective immediately. The decision was made “after consultation with our environmental health and safety team as well as the Cabell-Huntington Health Department and other health care partners including our Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine.”

The email stats that due to high rates of vaccination and less severe variants of the virus the risk of COVID-19 is greatly diminished.

Starting in March, the university had updated guidelines weekly using CDC transmission levels. Throughout the summer, that level has increased to high transmission which required masks to be worn on campus.