NYU will loosen its COVID-19 restrictions on campus starting Friday, Feb. 4, the university announced in an email sent Wednesday evening. NYU cited its booster requirement and the recent decline in new omicron cases on campus and across New York City

Starting Friday, students will be allowed to eat in dining halls. NYU is urging students to eat 6 feet apart from other students and finish their meals in 15 minutes or less. To-go options will continue to be available.

In-person events, gatherings and meetings will resume in person beginning Monday, Feb. 7, in compliance with the university’s previous COVID-19 safety guidelines. Student clubs may also resume in-person meetings.

Gyms and other athletic facilities will reopen for individual workouts. Group fitness and recreation classes will still continue to operate remotely.

Students living in NYU housing will be allowed to have other NYU students in their rooms starting on Feb. 7, while non-NYU guests remain prohibited. Common areas and lounges in residence halls will open, but eating will still be restricted unless the space is a designated eating area. 

Group study rooms will reopen on Feb. 7. Eating is not permitted in these spaces unless the space is a designated eating area.

All NYU schools will be permitted to resume in-person instruction for students enrolled in performing arts courses in accordance with the guidelines put in place during the fall 2021 semester. Each school will communicate to its students when the new guidelines will take effect.

Some safety measures will continue to remain in place. Students will still be required to wear university-approved masks indoors. The administration has urged students to continue exercising caution by following COVID-19 guidelines and that restrictions could be put back in place if there is an increase in cases.

The decision to lift restrictions on non-academic campus activities comes after NYU’s COVID-19 test positivity rate declined to 1.58% for the 7-day period ending Jan. 30. Positivity rates were as high as 18% during the peak of the omicron variant in early January.

The university has decided it will no longer offer students the online flexibility that was available during the first two weeks of the semester, and has said that all students should attend classes in person by Feb. 7.

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