Beginning today, face coverings are no longer required in outdoor spaces on campus, the COVID-19 Task Force co-chairs announced in a community-wide email.

Masks are still required indoors and at large outdoor gatherings such as commencement and investiture ceremonies.

And while masks are no longer required on campus property such as the Bema, athletics facilities, and the Green, task force co-chairs Lisa Adams and Josh Keniston emphasized that the Town of Hanover’s mask ordinance remains in effect.

“Please be respectful of public spaces such as the downtown area, sidewalks, and streets where everyone is required to wear masks by town regulation,” Adams and Keniston said. “We are following the rising vaccination rates in our community along with the town of Hanover’s pandemic regulations and we will look to relax indoor mask-wearing as soon as those two elements make it possible.”

Adams and Keniston noted that more than 69 percent of students, faculty, and staff who have access to campus have completed their vaccinations.

The email detailed Dartmouth’s shift, as of June 1, to the “Less-Limited Access” phase of the campus’s five-phase reopening plan.

“In this phase, in-person on-campus activities such as coursework and events can start to expand in accordance with prevention guidelines,” Adams and Keniston said.

Other changes under the “Less-Limited Access” phase include:

• As previously announced, undergraduates living on campus may host up to two guests in their dorm rooms, provided those guests also currently live on campus.
• Students may gather both indoors and outdoors in informal groups of up to nine people, and may schedule formal gatherings of up to 25 people, provided all attendees have permission to be on campus. Larger groups are allowed in pre-approved locations managed by Dartmouth’s Office of Conferences and Events.
• Limitations on external guests are still in effect, with the exception of guests attending commencement and investiture celebrations, as previously announced.
• Employees who can do so will continue to work remotely but will begin to work with managers to plan for a return to full access later this summer.
• Beginning July 1, Dartmouth will no longer use the daily temperature and self-assessment screening tool (TSA).

Adams and Keniston encouraged all community members who have not yet done so to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Beginning July 1, vaccinated students, faculty, and staff working on campus will be tested for COVID-19 once per month (with the option for more testing by individual request).

Unvaccinated employees coming to campus will still need to be tested twice a week.

“Getting vaccinated is now easier than ever. Vaccines are provided free of charge to everyone regardless of health insurance coverage,” the message said.

Vaccines are currently available at the CVS pharmacy in Hanover. Other locations can be found at the Vermont and New Hampshire departments of health websites.

Students should report their completed vaccination status to the Dartmouth Health Service. Faculty and staff should report theirs to Axiom, Dartmouth’s occupational health partner. Detailed information is available on the Dartmouth Together COVID-19 website.

“This information helps us to remove restrictions and make important operating decisions,” Keniston and Adams said. “Thank you for doing your part to move us closer to a better campus experience.”

Hannah Silverstein can be reached at hannah.silverstein@dartmouth.edu.