Cal Poly students will not be required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test to return to campus after Thanksgiving break, according to an email from President Jeffrey Armstrong on Tuesday.
The university’s seven-day positivity rate has remained below 1% since September, lower than San Luis Obispo County’s positivity rate of about 3.5% and California’s statewide rate at about 2.5%, according to the email.
According to the County Public Health Office, 73.1% of San Luis Obispo county’s eligible population has received at least one dose of the vaccine and 66.4% are fully vaccinated. This compares to the 96.5% of on-campus students, 94.2% of all students, and 90.8% of faculty and staff who are fully vaccinated at Cal Poly, according to the email.
“Thank you to the entire community for being so careful with your own and each other’s health and well-being,” Armstrong wrote. “It is your commitment to following these guidelines that has made it possible for us to revise the universal entry testing requirement for the post-break return to campus.”
Armstrong wrote that the university could again require testing to return to campus after Thanksgiving if conditions worsen, though such changes would have to be significant to affect current policy. The testing exemption does not apply to unvaccinated individuals, who will be required to continue partaking in the university’s regular ongoing testing.
Indoor mask requirements and other COVID-19 safety protocols will continue to be in effect on campus for the rest of fall and winter quarter, unless Public Health officials advise otherwise.
For more information on Cal Poly’s COVID-19 requirements and up to date case numbers, visit the university’s Coronavirus information page.
