Editor's Note: This was sent to the School of Nursing's faculty, staff and students. 

Earlier today, Duke University issued an announcement lifting indoor masking requirements in most Duke University facilities beginning Monday, March 7. While fully vaccinated individuals will no longer be required to wear masks in most circumstances on campus or in Duke leased facilities, masks are still being required in classrooms, buses, vans, clinical spaces and patient care areas. Individuals who are unvaccinated will need to wear a mask at all times while visiting Duke University and Duke Health locations.

In compliance with Duke University’s updated policies, masks will continue to be required in classrooms, labs and clinical settings. Those who work in the Duke University Health System must continue to follow full mask mandate while on DUHS premises.

Over the past couple years, our community has taken many steps to help keep one another safe and healthy. As these mandates lift in our area and around the country, please stay mindful and respectful that everyone will have different comfort levels in response to these changes and still live in varied circumstances that inform decisions around continued masking or discontinuation of masking. Some individuals might keep wearing masks longer —or may prefer to continue social distancing. Let’s all be patient and compassionate about one another’s decisions as we move forward under these new guidelines.

At DUSON, we are also employing the following guidelines:

• In areas in which people congregate, such as the Pearson atrium, please be mindful of those around you, and be respectful of those who may wish to continue social distancing or masking.
• Additionally, we encourage group meetings to be held with our continued commitment to being a hybrid school, with options for meeting attendees to join in person or virtually. For those who attend in person, remain mindful of varied interest in masking and distancing.   I know this continues to be a challenging time. It is because of your flexibility and resilience that we have been able to persist and support one another through the last two years. While the lift in mandates is a sign that the virus is being managed through vaccinations and medical treatment, we must remain cautious. 

We will continue to monitor the situation with guidance from the CDC, Duke University, Duke Health and other infectious disease experts. Visit the COVID resources page on our website to stay up-to-date on our protocols.  

For anyone concerned about these updated measures, please let the Dean's Office know. We will convene a town hall if our community wants to talk about these changes.