Dear Campus Community,
I am writing with an update on the COVID-19 response on campus and the preparations for welcoming back 1,340 students in February.
We have completed three rounds of testing for our 43 returning students and two rounds of testing for many returning faculty and staff. The dashboard gives details of our results, but to summarize, we have had two positive employees from at-home testing, three positive employees from on-campus testing, and one positive student from on-campus testing. Everyone is recovering well. We have been pleased with Inspire Diagnostics’ fast processing of results and easy communication. Students have been emailed the link to sign up for the at-home test kit, to be taken on February 15. If you haven’t ordered your test kit, go ahead and do so ASAP.
As a reminder, employees are welcome back on campus after one negative COVID-19 PCR test (at home), and then will have two follow-up COVID-19 PCR tests on campus in the ensuing two weeks. Students will have one at-home test followed by two on-campus tests.
As we prepare for the spring semester, ACHA has been meeting with many different departments to take what we learned in the fall and expand offerings in the spring. A few highlights are listed below.
Athletics is cautiously optimistic for some competitive play later in the semester. This will depend on the number of positive cases on campus, but Bill Ross and I are drafting plans for safe play so that, if we can play, we will be ready to do so. Competitive sports would have no spectators, with video feed available. Extensive and extra testing would be mandatory for student-athletes and coaches.
Music is on my mind. Professor Dearden (chair of the Music Department) and I have been brainstorming how to safely bring back live music to campus. Again, with cautious optimism, we are discussing outdoor music in May, weather and pandemic permitting, with spaced seating and masking.
Residence Life has been getting savvy about social-distanced fun and has included several student volunteers to help plan activities for campus quarantine and beyond.
There has been concern from different groups on campus about “getting in trouble” for getting together. We want you to gather! But, yes, safely. ACHA members have been working on a campus-wide policy for safe gathering, to be implemented after the campus quarantine has been lifted. Last semester, athletic teams were perceived as having more liberal gathering rules because they practice in small groups less than 6 feet apart. These groups did practice less than 6 feet apart (always masked, even during play) and were always supervised in person by an Allegheny employee. To extend this opportunity to other groups, I wrote ACHA’s functional group policy. Please read the guidelines, which include a staff sponsor, and consider creating your functional group. Any organization on campus, including Greek organizations and athletic clubs, are welcome to create functional groups. Email questions to Marko Sadikovic or me.
Over 20 students have reached out to inform ACHA that they have received the COVID-19 vaccine! We have some amazing students on the front lines, including several EMTs and a dental hygienist. Some of these people have asked the question: if I am vaccinated, and am exposed to a person with COVID-19, will I have to quarantine? For now, we will take this on a case-by-case basis. The reality is that those who live in college residence halls or shared apartments live very closely together, and the risk of spread is high. Therefore, should you be exposed, we will consider your vaccination status, with the safety of everyone on campus our ultimate goal.
On a personal note, my parents, senior citizens living in Brooklyn, New York, received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine last week. I have not seen them since February 2020. I miss them; I am sure everyone reading this can relate on some level. Well, my mom was so excited that she announced that they would be coming to visit exactly seven days after their second dose — on February 18!
Don’t worry — I pushed them to early March.
See you all soon,
Dr. Morrow