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Happy Election Day to you all! I hope you were all able to get out and vote safely. It’s hard to believe we are now in week 11 of the semester and in two weeks (starting Nov. 20) we will shift to all remote learning. I am happy to report that we continue to have relatively low numbers of positive COVID-19 tests results from students and employees across all Ohio University campuses. The rates in Athens County have also come down from the high a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, all other counties with Ohio University campuses continue to have high rates, and the State of Ohio continues to set records on new case numbers (4,229 in the last 24 hours) and hospitalizations (213 in the last 24 hours). For more information about Ohio University campus numbers, remember to check the dashboard, which compiles data from our various testing efforts, county numbers, and other campus indicators. I would like to touch on a few things today -Halloween, asymptomatic testing, our new housing alert system, and planning for holiday breaks and spring return.
Halloween: Better than feared
Halloween was a real concern for all of us here in Athens, but I am happy to report that it was a relatively quiet weekend. With that said, we still had significant numbers of students out and in groups, albeit small. Not everyone was wearing a mask or maintaining a six-foot distance. There were certainly small gatherings of students and community members. While we don’t believe we had any super-spreader events, we most certainly will have spread and an increase in the rates in about 10-14 days. As cases increase across the state, it is critical to be safe – remember the safe six.
- Stay 6 feet a part
- Wear a mask
- Wash hands
- Don’t touch your face
- Disinfect surfaces regularly
- Stay at home if you are unwell
Asymptomatic Testing
We have received feedback from some of you about being concerned with the waiting area for the CVS testing results. Though the process met all safety guidelines, I understand that it made many people uncomfortable, so we have updated our protocols. Now, for those testing after 9:30 am, you may leave the testing center after you do your self-swab, and you will receive your results by text. If your test is positive, you will also receive a phone call.
Athens campus students should expect to be called to test on multiple occasions. This is necessary for us to remain updated about the extent of COVID-19 among this demographic. In fact, testing is likely to increase; we are working toward testing all students in residence halls weekly and off-campus students more regularly. In accordance with the President’s Health Directive, students are expected to get tested when we request that they do so. Students who fail to complete tests will lose their access to campus buildings, which is a is necessary precaution we take to keep our campus and community safe.
New Housing Advisory System
Later this week, we will be rolling out a new housing alert system. This was inspired by the approach by our peers at Miami University. We are going to use a color code system, similar to the Ohio Department of Health’s Public Health Advisory System. As a preview, residence halls will be color coded based on the percentage of residents who are COVID positive in the last 7 days according to the following:
- Level 1 (Yellow): no known cases
- Level 2 (Orange): 1-4.9% of residents are positive
- Level 3 (Red): 5-9.9% of residents are positive
- Level 4 (Purple): 10% or more of the residents are positive
Level 4 will be associated with a new remain in room protocol. We will provide more details later in the week and the dashboard will be updated to reflect this advisory system this Friday, November 6.
Planning for the weeks to come
As we prepare to for Thanksgiving and beyond, I want to request that you continue to follow the safe six. Governor DeWine has requested that students be tested prior to returning home. We will ask students living in residence halls to schedule a test the week leading up to Thanksgiving. We know that many students who live off-campus in Athens have already been traveling between home and school regularly. This concerns me given the level of spread across the state. Imagine if any of us accidentally brought an illness home to our families for the holidays. Every Ohio University student must schedule a test prior to returning to their permanent address, and every Bobcat parent should check to make sure their student has a documented negative COVID-19 test. Regardless of what campus you attend, I ask that everyone take extra precautions over Thanksgiving, winter break, and beyond. As always, avoid large gatherings, maintain physical distance, and wear a mask when appropriate.
To successfully return in the spring, the county and state case and hospitalization rates need to be manageable. Across the nation and the world, numbers are climbing and breaking records. This morning I was listening a Belgian physician on BBC. He reported that not only are they running out of hospital beds across their country, but he said that they are also facing such shortages of healthcare staff that asymptomatic positive staff must continue to work. Please, do your part to keep us from facing such a dire situation in Ohio where going to a care provider would put you in contact with the virus.
As noted in President Nellis’ announcement about spring semester, students will be tested prior to returning to campus for Spring semester. Students living in residence halls will be required to test weekly and those off-campus but utilizing the Athens campus will be required to test bi-weekly. Employees who are regularly on campus will also be expected to test bi-weekly. Testing compliance will be essential to our successful return for Spring semester, as will adherence to all Presidential Health Directives. We all have spent much more time apart than any of us wanted. But Fall semester taught us vital lessons and allowed us to develop important protocols. Successfully congregating back on our campuses next semester will heavily depend on our ability to implement the lessons we learned and to coordinate our activity by following the health protocols and directives we have developed. As we look forward through the holiday season and into a new year, let’s use the lessons 2020 has taught us to allow us to gather and keep learning while staying healthy in 2021.
Dr. Gillian Ice
Special Assistant to the President for Public Health Operations
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