Rutgers University plans to keep its mask and vaccine mandate in place for the fall semester, citing risks of both the Chinese coronavirus as well as monkeypox.
In a message to Rutgers Community Members, the university cited the risks of the Chinese coronavirus, which has now been around for over two years, as well as monkeypox, the latter of which poses the greatest risk to sexually active gay men.
“…both have tremendous potential to affect the health and well-being of our community,” Rutgers began, specifically citing the BA.5 subvariant of Omicron, although the university openly acknowledged that the spread “does not correlate to hospitalizations, intensive care unit beds, or deaths.”
As we prepare for another school year at Rutgers, read a message from Antonio M. Calcado, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, about our health and well-being protocols for the Fall 2022 semester: https://t.co/BCcq403uni pic.twitter.com/HlfPS0cSaL
— Rutgers University (@RutgersU) August 16, 2022
“In fact, the increased hospitalizations being reported are primarily hospitalizations with COVID-19, rather than hospitalizations for COVID-19,” the university bragged before bizarrely attributing the low hospitalization rates to “communitywide mitigation efforts we put in place over the last two years, including, but not limited to, mandatory vaccination, testing, quarantine, and contact tracing.”
An usher holds a Please Wear a Mask sign during a timeout in a game between the Purdue Boilermakers and Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Jersey Mike’s Arena on December 9, 2021 in Piscataway, New Jersey. Rutgers defeated Purdue 70-68. (Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
As Breitbart News has extensively reported over the past two years, mask mandates have done little to nothing to reduce the spread of the virus, as studies show and experts admit that cloth and surgical masks do little to block exhaled aerosols — a fact Dr. Anthony Fauci privately admitted at the start of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic. Further, blue states with mask mandates in place routinely reported higher cases of the virus per capita than mask-free states such as Florida for months on end in 2021.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 17, 2022. (Shawn Thew/Pool Photo via AP)
Nevertheless, Rutgers is accepting coronavirus as a “permanent part of our daily lives” but announced it will “maintain its COVID-19 safety protocols on face coverings, vaccines and boosters, testing, and quarantining and isolation.” As a result, students and teachers will continue to comply with forced masking in all indoor teaching spaces, and students and employees must be “fully vaccinated” and receive a booster shot “when eligible.” Vaccine records will need to be uploaded to the “university vaccine portal.”
Rutgers also provided a note about monkeypox, deeming it a “significant new public health concern in the U.S. that should be taken seriously.” However, they admit it is “much less contagious” than the coronavirus and is “typical spread through close skin-to-skin contact with an infected person and not by casual exposure.” Despite the warnings, the university itself will not be offering treatments for monkeypox.
“The university will continue to monitor both viruses and will update these important protocols throughout the fall semester,” it added.