Mississippi State’s Covid-19 Task Force met today [Jan. 31] and decided that in the face of the ongoing Omicron variant outbreak, MSU will continue to require that masks be worn inside all university buildings. Employees may remove masks in their individual offices.

At the outset of the Spring 2022 semester, MSU announced its intention to review the mask requirement on Feb. 1. While Covid-19 mitigation efforts on campus and in the surrounding community have been encouraging and the current surge appears to have peaked, transmission rates remain too high to relax the mask requirement at this time.

The current mask requirement applies to all students, faculty, staff and visitors. It will be reevaluated weekly as the task force assesses the local rate of infection and receives future operating guidance and direction from the Mississippi State Department of Health.

The university’s goal continues to be a return to normal campus operations as soon as possible. Any change to the current masking requirement will be shared with the university community via email and online. Additional Covid-19 information and resources are available at www.msstate.edu/covid19.