BU, ACC drop major COVID restrictions

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This article was published 03/05/2022 (1612 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Both of Brandon’s major post-secondary schools have eliminated significant COVID-19 restrictions on campus, with the hope of paving the way for a fall semester that more closely resembles pre-pandemic conditions.

On Monday, Assiniboine Community College dropped its vaccine mandate, meaning staff, students and visitors are no longer required to provide proof of vaccination or undergo routine testing to attend in-person activities.

However, ACC’s mask mandate will remain in place until at least June 6.

Meanwhile, Brandon University moved to Phase Gold of its reopening strategy on Friday, which marks a transition from COVID requirements to recommendations.

Not only does this mean that the school’s vaccine mandate is no longer in place, but BU staff and students don’t have to wear masks on campus if they don’t want to.

Additionally, BU officials are eliminating physical distancing requirements and will be removing all COVID-related signage over the next couple of weeks.

Despite this shift in policy, BU will continue to keep certain precautionary measures in place, like continuing to enhance its ventilation system and providing sanitization stations throughout campus.

“We will continue to monitor the COVID situation, as we monitor other potential risks to campus operations, and we will continue to fine tune our response as the situation warrants,” a BU spokesperson said in a Thursday news release.

This spokesperson went on to claim that the spring and summer season is the best possible time to make this transition to Phase Gold, since on-campus activity is greatly reduced at this point in the year.

“Much research is in the field. Outdoors becomes an option for some meetings. Many people are taking their vacations. There are fewer classes, and those that are held typically see less mixing.”

However, not everyone is happy with BU’s new course of action.

At least one university staff member, who wishes to remain anonymous, believes that dropping mask mandates at this stage in the pandemic is a rash decision, especially since the province recently registered a rise in COVID cases.

According to the province’s latest data, 1,436 new COVID cases were uncovered throughout the week of April 17-23, which represents a 17 per cent increase in cases from the previous week.

These numbers are particularly distressing to this BU staff member, who is worried that the lack of masks on campus will increase their chances of catching the virus and bringing it home to their immunocompromised family members.

This anonymous staff member believes that BU should play it safe and fall in line with other post-secondary schools like ACC and the University of Winnipeg, which are keeping mask mandates in place until at least June. The University of Manitoba is also sticking with its mask mandate for an unspecified period of time.

BU officials addressed this specific criticism in their Thursday news release, stating the transition to Phase Gold is more in line with what is happening in the broader community.

“We know that some other institutions have extended or continued their mask mandates into the coming weeks, and some may prefer that BU had done the same,” the spokesperson said.

“However, given concerns about enforceability, particularly in the absence of public health orders that require broad and consistent application, the decision is that a full mask mandate is no longer appropriate.”

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