Anne Ehrlich and Jen Lucas update the campus community about positive cases on campus and current mask wearing policies.
Dear Campus Community,
We write to you today with a brief COVID update. Since returning from Thanksgiving break, we have seen eight positive student cases and four positive employee cases. We will maintain our current masking policy for the remainder of the semester as we strive to keep our positivity rate low. Masks are required in all indoor spaces except:
- When a vaccinated student is inside a campus house or residence hall. Unvaccinated students are still required to mask in campus housing except while in their assigned room or apartment.
- When an employee is alone in their personal office or workspace.
- When an individual is eating or drinking.
As a reminder, any member of the campus community who is experiencing potential COVID symptoms or is concerned about exposure should be tested. Students can test at Health Services or at the Mobile Health testing site at no cost. The last day of testing this semester is December 16.
We will continue our weekly testing of unvaccinated individuals next semester, which will resume on January 3 for staff and on January 17 for students and faculty.
Vaccination continues to be the best possible way to limit the chances of contracting severe illness as a result of COVID-19. On November 29, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced an expansion of the eligibility for COVID-19 vaccine booster doses to:
- Any individual 18+ who is more than six months removed from the final dose in their original Pfizer or Moderna vaccines series.
- Any individual 18+ who is more than two months removed from their Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine.
We strongly encourage those who are eligible to obtain a booster to do so. We will be offering a booster clinic for students when we return to campus in January.
We are closely monitoring public health guidance, particularly the trajectory of the Omicron variant. We will be in touch regarding spring semester protocols in early January, including any booster requirements.
We appreciate all of your efforts to keep our campus community safe this semester, and we wish you good health and good luck through finals.
Sincerely,
Anne Ehrlich
Vice President of College Life
Jen Lucas
Executive Director of Human Resources