As winter faded into spring, the campus community renewed its hope that the coronavirus pandemic — and the accompanying safety measures — might soon be over. With the rise of the highly contagious omicron variant, Notre Dame in January once more imposed stricter measures intended to reduce spread of the illness. The policy required COVID-19 vaccine boosters for students and employees except those who received medical or religious exemptions. Clinics at the Joyce Center offered the shot. Masks were required for everyone in all campus buildings until February 4, two weeks after Notre Dame reached its self-imposed 90 percent compliance threshold. Testing continued at a facility in the Joyce Center, and those who tested positive were required to isolate. The University’s COVID-19 dashboard reported a peak in positive tests during the week of January 16-22 — with 359 new positive tests and a 20.9 percent positivity rate — followed by a steep decline. With a few exceptions, masking became optional for all students, employees and campus visitors on March 21. Photography by Matt Cashore ’94.
