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OUDAILY
The University of Oklahoma’s independent student voice since 1916
OU temporarily requires masks
TREY YOUNG/THE DAILY
A sticker given to recipients of a COVID-19 vaccination in an OU vaccination clinic on March 26, 2021.
Omicron variant shapes updated measures in OU virus response for spring JILLIAN TAYLOR BLAKE DOUGLAS @jilliantaylor__ @blake_doug918
OU enacted changes to its COVID19 policies, including a mask mandate in all classroom settings through Jan. 31. The decision drew criticism from community members who saw the move as contradictory to the university’s previous assertions that state law prevented a mask mandate. The changes come as the highly transmissible omicron variant — which accounted for 95 percent of sequenced cases in the U.S. since the beginning of January — triggers climbing COVID-19 case numbers, with a seven-day average of 8,485 cases in Oklahoma as of Jan. 14. OU Chief COVID Officer Dr. Dale Bratzler wrote in an email to the Norman campus that provisional measures are being instituted to safeguard OU community members and preserve the institution’s “continuity of service” to students. The two-week mask mandate will begin during the first week of classes on Jan. 18, Bratzler wrote. On Feb. 1, the Norman campus will revert to its fall 2021 masking guidance, which expects masking in classrooms and requires it during a two-week quarantine period after a positive COVID19 case is confirmed.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bratzler wrote OU has sought to implement protocols that will protect its community while allowing the institution to continue offering its in-person experience. He wrote there is “no perfect balancing of those priorities” and attributed the maintenance of this “life-changing in-person experience” to the vigilance of community members. In fall 2021, OU gave statements that Oklahoma law forbade it from requiring masks across campus but did not specify when asked which sections of state law provide for the exception after a positive test or for the first two weeks of a semester. This contradiction drew criticism from community members who demanded the university implement stronger COVID-19 policies. As early as August 2021, some OU Law professors were skeptical of the reach that Senate Bill 658 and Executive Order 2021-16 had to prevent a general mask mandate at OU. SB 658 alone only prevents some entities from implementing vaccine mandates, requiring vaccine passports or requiring masks for unvaccinated individuals. The executive order requires buildings and spaces operated by the state to “rescind any mandate for the wearing of masks in order to receive government services.” “After continued consultation with other universities in the state, the consensus is that there is some ambiguity in the interpretation of what constitutes a public space,” a university spokesperson wrote in an email
to The Daily. “Given the high likelihood that one or more members of any class would return to campus with COVID, coupled with the university’s commitment to high-quality, in-person instruction, (OU) has chosen to adopt an initial two-week mask mandate in classrooms only.” In a policy carried over from the fall semester, OU professors are also able to institute a two-week mask mandate after a positive test in their classrooms. When asked specifically what language the university feels “provides some latitude” for establishing mask mandates in either of the statutes or if the university could have implemented a broader mask mandate last semester, OU responded only with the above statement. For the week of Jan. 6-12, 134 positive cases were recorded out of 536 tests conducted only by OU Health Services — a 25 percent positivity rate. Bratzler said he expects substantial spread as universities return to in-person instruction. The OU chapter of the American Association of University Professors issued a press release on Jan. 11 calling the mask mandate an acknowledgment of “what many bonafide legal experts have stated all along.” “After continual claims, assertions, and public relations press releases throughout the (fall) semester that a common-sense masking policy for COVID-19 protections was not legally possible. … OU abruptly changed course and instituted a temporary two-week mask policy,” the press release read.
The OUAAUP called on the university to implement mandated masking for the entirety of the spring semester, pointing to Oklahoma State University’s policy of allowing instructors to move classes online for the initial two-week period in addition to requiring masks during in-person instruction. Oklahoma State University implemented a similar two-week required masking period. An OSU spokesperson wrote the university’s interpretation of the law and public space means that a university classroom is not a public space while classes are in session, allowing OSU to mandate masks in the classroom “for limited periods of time or following positive cases,” similarly to OU’s policy. “The rationale for the baseline of Feb. 1, 2022, from a public health perspective … has not been provided,” the OUAAUP release read. “As omicron COVID-19 cases soar, why this major public health emergency would have subsided by that date is not known and justified.” In a Jan. 10 statement, a university spokesperson said OU implemented the two-week mandate as it is “virtually assured that individuals will unknowingly be infected returning to the classroom, which is why the spring 2022 temporary modification assumes there will be infected individuals in the classroom within the first two weeks of class.” OU Law Professor Joseph Thai wrote that OU leadership “continues to gaslight our community on the legality of mask mandates to excuse its moral and legal failure” to protect
community members’ health. “OU leadership deliberately spread COVID misinformation that state law forbids the university from adopting a general mask mandate,” Thai wrote in an email. “But read the law for yourself, OU: state law only forbids a targeted ‘mask mandate for students who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19.’ It does not forbid a general mask mandate for all students, faculty and staff.” Gov. Kevin Stitt’s executive order forbidding mask mandates for receiving government services, Thai wrote, is void because the governor “has no legal authority to dictate what happens at OU,” as OU is governed by the OU Board of Regents under the state’s constitution. The ability for instructors to implement a two-week mask mandate after a class member tests positive is also proof OU could implement a more general mandate if it wished, Thai wrote, as the law provides “no such exception.” “Truthfully, OU can mandate masks two weeks after someone comes to class infected — as well as two weeks at the start of the semester, as OU is now requiring — because state law allows OU to mandate masks at any time, as long as the mandate is general and not limited to the unvaccinated,” Thai wrote. jillian.g.taylor-2@ou.edu bdoug99@ou.edu
OU sees rising cases amid omicron surge COVID-19 dashboard shows increase in new positive cases over break Kaly Phan @KPhsn
The OU COVID-19 dashboard shows about a 15 percent increase in positive tests from the week of Dec. 30 to Jan. 6 as the university prepares to resume classes for the spring 2022 semester. According to the dashboard, during the week of Jan. 6-12, positive case numbers rose to 134 from the previous week’s 36 cases. The 134 positive tests are out of 536 total, meaning 25 percent of COVID-19 tests taken were positive. On Jan. 12, the seven-day case average in Oklahoma was 7,185 cases. According to the Mayo Clinic, the average positive test rate statewide is almost 34 percent and Oklahoma ranks 27th in the nation in average daily cases as of Jan. 11.
This OU dashboard update follows a Jan. 10 university email from OU Chief COVID Officer Dr. Dale Bratzler that OU will implement a two-week mask mandate in response to an increase in COVID19 cases with the omicron variant. Omicron is the “most transmissible variant of the pandemic” out of those documented, Bratzler wrote in the university email. A university spokesperson wrote that an “ambiguity in the interpretation of what constitutes a public space” allows OU to implement a two-week mandate, despite the institution’s interpretation of Executive Order 2021-16 and Senate Bill 658 as barring it from enacting a general mask mandate. The OU chapter of the American Association of University Professors wrote that OU administration was being contradictory after “continual claims, assertions, and public relations press releases” throughout last semester that COVID-19 protocols were not possible. OU Law Professor Joseph Thai wrote that the
administration “continues to gaslight our community on the legality of mask mandates to excuse its moral and legal failure.” In his Wednesday live stream, Bratzler said he expects another surge of cases as OU and other schools reopen. A total of 20 public schools — including Norman and Oklahoma City Public Schools — announced temporary closures and transitions to remote learning. In the university email, Bratzler strongly advised community members to get vaccinated and their booster shots and encouraged meetings, events and classes to be held online “if reasonable.” After Jan. 31, OU will continue to abide by its fall guidelines, which allow a two-week mask mandate in classrooms with a confirmed positive COVID-19 test. The current mandate for spring 2022 is only temporary, Bratzler wrote in the announcement, but is subject to change if “additional guidance” is given. kaly.n.phan@ou.edu
LITZY SILOS/THE DAILY
OU student Logan Pesina shows off the shirt she got after providing proof of vaccination in front of the Goddard Health Center on Sept. 3, 2021.