Effective tomorrow, Monday, April 11, the COVID-19 Alert Level will move to Yellow on our New York City Campus. Pleasantville and Haub Law will remain at Green.
This move comes in response to elevated case rates in Manhattan (New York County) due to the highly contagious BA.2 subvariant. This has caused the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to move the county from low risk status to medium risk. Westchester County remains at low risk status, according to the CDC.
The move to Yellow on our New York City Campus requires us to re-institute certain precautions. Effective tomorrow:
- Masks are once again required in all public spaces on our New York City Campus.
- We will re-institute community testing for a random sample of students, staff, and faculty coming to the New York City Campus. Those exempt from our vaccine requirement will be required to test. You will be notified via Pace email when you are selected for testing. Any member of the Pace Community may choose to test.
- Events will continue as scheduled and food may be served, but masks must be worn when not actively eating.
- Dining halls will remain open with full service, but masks must be worn when not actively eating.
We will continue to monitor conditions, and we hope to be able to return to Green Alert Level in New York City as soon as possible. We may also be forced to raise the alert level in Pleasantville or at Haub Law if case rates increase in Westchester County.
As the BA.2 subvariant spreads, we encourage you to do everything possible to keep yourself safe. We highly recommend:
- Wearing masks in all indoor public spaces, even if not required.
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Staying up-to-date with your vaccine boosters. Currently, second booster doses are available to those 50 and older or immunocompromised.
- Protecting yourself and your community by washing your hands, maintaining distance, testing when you feel unwell, and isolating if you test positive or experience symptoms.
Finally, residential students should remember that quarantine/isolation space is limited on our campuses. If your vaccination and booster isn’t up to date and you are required to quarantine or isolate, you’ll have to do that at home. And for all students, if space is unavailable you may need to isolate or quarantine at home.
The good news is that people who are vaccinated are at very low risk of serious infection even if they test positive. But our hope is to keep case rates as low as possible to protect everyone in our community. Thank you for your cooperation and commitment. These guidelines will help us get back to Green as soon as possible.
