Northeastern announced it is easing some campus safety restrictions regarding the residential guest policy, indoor dining and clubs, in an email to students Friday. 

Now at the halfway point in the semester, Northeastern “has completed more than 250,000 COVID-19 tests with a seven-day average positive test rate of 0.05%,” wrote Chancellor and Senior Vice President for Learning Ken Henderson. Because of these results, Northeastern has decided to ease certain restrictions. 

Students who live on campus are now permitted to have one guest from the same residence hall in their residential unit, but “this is not one guest per student or per bedroom,” Henderson wrote in the email. 

“A residential unit is defined as either a corridor style room in buildings with shared floor bathrooms or is inclusive of all rooms of a semi-private suite, suite, or apartment,” stated another email from Northeastern’s Housing and Residential Life office. “While a guest is present, all residents and the guest must wear a mask or face covering and maintain healthy distancing.”

Indoor dining is also once again available at dining halls across campus. International Village, Stetson East, Stetson West, Churchill Hall, Curry Student Center and Boston Symphony Hall all now allow students to eat indoors, albeit with social distancing and regular cleaning.

“At all dine-in locations, seating will be limited and six feet apart, in accordance with public health guidelines. To make following the guidelines easier, all dining halls will be clearly marked with signs that indicate where people should stand to maintain a healthy distance from one another,” wrote Shannon Nargi, a Northeastern university spokesperson.  

After breakfast, lunch and dinner, dining halls are shut down for thorough cleaning, Nargi wrote. Curry is cleaned regularly throughout the day.

On-campus common areas will also increase open hours, according to the email. 

“Most of the remaining closed lounge and common spaces in the residential buildings will reopen,” the housing email stated. “Students must abide by posted signage, wear masks or face coverings, and maintain healthy distancing when using common spaces.”

Finally, clubs and organizations can begin scheduling in-person meetings as well as in-person outdoor tabling, as long as they follow Northeastern’s healthy distancing rules. 

These new regulations are subject to change as the semester progresses, the email stated. 

“We will constantly monitor conditions on and off campus to make sure these changes don’t compromise community health and safety,” Henderson wrote.