Florida State University Removes Anti-COVID Face Mask Obligation for Indoor Use
United States North America COVID-19 by Erudera News May 11, 2021

Florida State University’s (FSU) students and staff are no longer obliged to wear masks when attending activities on campus, the President has announced.
According to a press release issued by the university, staff members will continue wearing face coverings, following Center for Disease Control and Prevention rules, Erudera.com reports.
“This represents a shift from the previous face-covering requirement and reflects our substantial efforts to vaccinate the university community, along with a low number of COVID-19 cases on campus,” President John Thrasher wrote.
The act followed Florida’s Governor, Ron DeSantis’ executive order, which suspends the Coronavirus protection measures in the county, issued on May 3.
Like the governor, the State University System of Florida has lifted Coronavirus restrictions, announcing that all public higher education institutions are expected to expand classroom capacity similar to the pre-COVID to return to all operations potentially.
According to a joint statement by Syd Kitson, chairman of the Florida Board of Governors, and Marshall M. Criser III, chancellor of the State University System of Florida, other activities are to be returned to before the COVID-19 pandemic capacity, as well.
“Further, we anticipate returning to full in-person participation in athletic and social activities on our campuses, including fan participation in stadiums and arenas,” chairman and chancellor wrote.
Similar to FSU, the University of Florida (UF) has recently announced that the spring commencement graduation ceremony will be held in person for 10,000 new graduates, including the 2020 graduates who could not attend their graduation ceremony last year due to Coronavirus restrictions.
The graduates will collect their degrees at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center while their families and loved ones are advised to attend the ceremony virtually.
Previously, UF has been ranked the second university with the most positive cases with COVID-19, counting 5,100 infected individuals from mid-March.
However, in February, the same university ranked first on indoor mask use, as a study conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention revealed.
According to the study, 98 percent of students and staff and UF wore masks. Out of them, 95 percent wore masks properly, preventing infection ultimately.
Data collected from 17,200 students also revealed that UF was followed by Auburn University, Colorado State University, the University of Georgia, the University of Pikeville in Kentucky, and West Virginia University.
Last year, the National Institute of Health granted the University of Florida alongside Pennsylvania State University and Arizona State University a $912,000 grant to research COVID-19 tests based on smell, determining which one appears to be more accurate on detecting the virus.
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