Student organizations will be able to resume in-person events Wednesday, Vice President for Student Life Melissa Shivers said in an email to student leaders Tuesday. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Assistant Photo Editor
After nearly a month of suspension, Ohio State student organizations will be able to resume in-person events Wednesday.
In an email to student organization leaders Tuesday, Vice President for Student Life Melissa Shivers said in-person events of 10 or fewer people will be permitted as long as social distancing is maintained. She said the lifting of the suspension is due to stabilized and decreasing COVID-19 rates among students. The single-day positivity rate has trended downward since the beginning of September, according to Ohio State’s COVID-19 dashboard.
According to the dashboard, as of Monday, 2,638 out of 76,215 students tested between Aug. 14 and Sept. 19 tested positive for COVID-19. The cumulative positivity rate for all students tested is 3.46 percent.
The university suspended in-person organization events Aug. 28 and was originally supposed to end Sept. 2. However, the university extended the suspension Sept. 8 while it monitored COVID-19 positivity rates after Labor Day weekend and extended the suspension indefinitely Sept. 14.
“As always, we will continue to evaluate the prevalence of the virus on and off campus and will be in touch quickly if we need to adjust this restoration of in-person gatherings or take any other pre-emptive actions,” Shivers said.
