Pitt officials said Thursday that 23 students and 9 employees tested positive for COVID-19 from March 16 to 22.

An email sent by Pitt’s COVID-19 Medical Response Office said it’s important for Pitt community members and their loved ones to get vaccinated, whether that is at Pitt or a local pharmacy. Once they receive a booster dose, community members need to update their vaccination records.

Pitt also reminded the community that the University will relax its mask mandate, effective Monday.

The CMRO said the University’s Healthcare Advisory Group recommended making the change. Pitt currently requires all community members to wear a mask inside University buildings, and will still require masks inside health care centers and on University shuttle buses. 

The CMRO said the policy change would align with the new COVID-19 Community Levels system introduced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which offers a layered approach to prevention strategies. In this new system, community levels are determined through used hospital beds, hospital admissions and the total number of COVID-19 cases in an area.

The email said while some community members may feel uncomfortable around unmasked individuals, studies have shown that masks are effective at reducing COVID-19 transmission, even among mixed masked and unmasked individuals.