Dear KGI Community,

This communication is a follow-up to our message sent 2/24/2022 regarding the interim indoor masking guidelines that went into effect on Friday, February 25. The new guidelines permit the removal of masking requirements for vaccinated individuals indoors if vaccination status can be verified. We were waiting on clarification from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) to provide directions to our community.

Information

Given the interim step in their guidance, we have decided to follow their clarification and recommendation and continue to require masks on campus indoors until the transmission hits the “moderate” level and the guidance has a complete lift of masking requirements. All of the Claremont Colleges will be continuing to require masks on campus. Masks are available for pickup by students in the Student Affairs suite, and employees can find KN95 masks outside the 535-conference room.

Rationale

LACDPH has indicated in school settings that students will be designated as “visitors.”

SHS saliva PCR tests usually come back the same night or overnight by early the following day. Visitors (students) with exemptions who are not fully vaccinated must have had a negative PCR test within the last two days or a negative antigen test within the previous one day each day they come to campus. A Monday & Wednesday testing schedule would allow the visitor (student) to attend classes from Tuesdays to Fridays. For a Monday class, the unvaccinated visitor (student) would have to produce a negative result from a PCR test taken on Saturday or Sunday. To attend class on Mondays, they would have to arrange for a private facility to perform a rapid antigen test for them on Sunday. LA County’s current guidance on verifying a negative test does not allow for self-reporting with rapid antigen tests. All of this would work assuming there is no lab delay, the test doesn’t get rejected, invalid, or come back as an inconclusive result. If students encounter this scenario, they would not be allowed in campus buildings until they retest and produce a negative result. 

We received clarification from LACDPH about our students being designated as visitors. Their recommendation to all higher education institutions was, “Rather than redesigning a new complex verification and assurance systems for your campus that may only be in place for a few weeks, we recommend maintaining your current masking policy until we move beyond this interim step and we have some more definitive guidance to offer.”

LADPH has indicated they will modify the new indoor mask requirement when the transmission rate falls to the “moderate” level as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for two straight weeks. We anticipate lifting our mask requirements when that occurs.

External Visitors

If you plan an event on campus with visitors, please visit the COVID-19 website for information on protocols. All visitors must fill out the visitor form.

We appreciate your patience as we navigate the consistently changing guidance to keep our community safe.

Be well,

KGI COVID-19 Task Force

Back to kgi.edu/coronavirus page