August 5, 2021

To the Dartmouth community,

Despite successful public health efforts in New Hampshire and Vermont to vaccinate the eligible population and lower the rate of coronavirus transmission, the rapid spread of COVID-19 infections driven by the delta variant is now affecting our region, as evidenced by the sudden rise in cases over the past few days among fully vaccinated students and employees at Dartmouth. It is crucial that we take steps to protect vulnerable colleagues, family members, and neighbors, including children who are not eligible for vaccines, the elderly, and those with medical conditions. In that spirit, and consistent with recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, the town of Hanover announced last night that it has reinstated an indoor mask requirement, effective immediately.

We are writing to let you know that beginning today, Dartmouth will also require that all members of our community wear face masks indoors, regardless of whether they are vaccinated. Masking is not required if you are in a private, non-shared space (such as a dorm room or office) or when you are actively eating or drinking. Students in shared dorm rooms may remove their face coverings while in their room with their roommates if they do not have symptoms. Masking will not be required outdoors. This return to indoor masking is consistent with similar policies at our peer schools.

We understand that much has been asked of you over the past 16 months and we do not take this step lightly. We believe that early intervention of this kind will offer us the best chance to avoid future disruptions and the earliest possible return to normalcy. We will continue to revisit the need for an indoor masking requirement and are hopeful we can relax this requirement at the end of September.

In addition, we are likely to require more frequent COVID-19 surveillance testing for vaccinated employees and students, which the CDC recommends as an important tool for identifying and interrupting the asymptomatic spread of the virus.

And remember that vaccination remains our best defense in the battle against COVID-19. The existing vaccines are more than 90% effective at preventing more severe disease from the highly contagious delta variant. Please ensure that you and your family are protected. Information regarding local vaccination centers is available at www.vaccines.gov. As always, if you have any concerns about COVID-19 and your working environment, please contact your supervisor.

Detailed information about Dartmouth's COVID-19 policies and practices can be found at https://covid.dartmouth.edu.

We are grateful for the many ways in which you have all stepped up to safeguard the health and well-being of our community over the past 16 months. COVID-19 is still with us and is likely to present us with a series of new and unexpected challenges over the year ahead. We ask for your continued help, patience, and flexibility as we work through these challenges and thank you for everything you are doing to support your colleagues, our students, and this institution.

Sincerely,

David Kotz '86
Interim Provost

Rick Mills
Executive Vice President