Northeastern lifts remaining COVID-19 restrictions, allowing guests on campus and more events

Northeastern University is lifting most of its remaining COVID-19 restrictions as the omicron surge begins to die down, the university announced Tuesday.

This means that the Northeastern community can again host in-person events and gatherings without undergoing a review, university-sponsored travel can resume, and guests can come onto campus again as long as they are fully vaccinated.

All Northeastern students, faculty, and staff are still required to be fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19. Indoor masking will also still be required, along with weekly coronavirus testing.

“The university is moving forward with policies that will enable the campus community to live, work, and study alongside the virus in a way that’s as close to normal as possible,” the university said in a news release.

Massachusetts had 1,792 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, which is far below the average daily new cases the state had in mid-January that reached higher than 20,000 new cases a day.

University officials said they will continue to monitor the situation and update university policies.

In a news release, Massachusetts Secretary of Education James Peyser praised the move, noting that “as the science, our understanding, and the tools available to address COVID-19 continue to evolve … it is critical that we give students the opportunity to engage more with their communities.”

“With Massachusetts’ status as a national leader in vaccination, it is time to navigate the careful transition into opening up our society while simultaneously employing public health mitigation strategies,” Peyser said in a statement.