MACON, Ga. — COVID-19 cases are down in Bibb County and across Central Georgia, and now Mercer University ended their mask mandate on Thursday for most places on campus.
"I feel like it's a little early, especially because their explanation is that cases have gone down a lot since January. January was just last month," says student Ahniyah Pinckney.
"I'll be respectful of anyone's decision. I mean, personally, I would not want to wear them," says Kevin Rodriguez.
The university says everyone now has the choice of wearing masks, except in faculty offices. Each faculty member can require visitors to wear masks if they choose. Health science students may also be required to wear masks in clinical settings.
One student says he will mask up for his professor's safety
"Professors are on the older side, so they are more susceptible to COVID, so I wear it for their sake," says Alex Weng.
Mercer says COVID cases are down 90% nationwide since peaking in January, and hospitals are returning to normal. The school says they've seen a sharp decline since January, and they say over 90% of mercer's student, faculty and staff are vaccinated for COVID.
Doctor Harry Strothers, Chairman and Professor of the Department of Family Medicine at Mercer University stated, "Things keep changing. This is a new disease that we did not know about more than 2 years ago and things will keep changing."
The university says it will continue to monitor conditions and update its guidance as needed. The CDC still advises people, including schoolchildren, to wear masks where the risk of COVID is high.
The new recommendations don't change the requirement to wear masks on public transportation.