KENT, Ohio - Kent State University announced on Wednesday that it would no longer require students, staff, and faculty to wear face masks indoors regardless of the county's community level for COVID-19.

Previously, the university required students and faculty to wear masks whenever any county with a Kent State campus was at a high community transmission level.

However, recent guidelines from the CDC caused the university to reevaluate these requirements. Masks are no longer required, even in high-level counties, but are still strongly recommended in these counties.

Despite this, masks will still be required in all health care facilities on all Kent State campuses regardless of community level.

In addition, the university has updated its quarantine and isolation policy to coincide with the CDC's most recent guidelines. This means that students exposed to COVID-19 will no longer need to quarantine or isolate regardless of their vaccination status.

However, those exposed to COVID-19 are still recommended to wear a mask for ten days, monitor their symptoms, and get tested on day six.

The university will still provide quarantine rooms for students who test positive for COVID-19.

However, under new CDC guidelines, any student who tests negative on day six after five days of isolation and improved symptoms will be allowed to return to their regular dorms as long as they wear a mask around others until day 10.

The university says it may require masks in the future should a more severe variant of COVID-19 emerge.