January 8, 2021
Dear MPH Community,
As you know, today presented MPH with its second opportunity of the 2020-2021 school year to conduct community-wide testing for COVID-19. And, once again, this community rallied to participate fully. We are pleased and grateful to report that 95% of our students and employees agreed to be tested, providing us with a solid baseline understanding of the health of our community before we return to classes on campus next Monday, January 11.
We learned that one of our students tested positive for COVID-19, and this student is now in isolation per Onondaga County Health Department (OCHD) guidelines. We also learned that this student has had no contact with anyone else from MPH over the last two weeks, and thus, we do not anticipate the need for contact tracing within our community. The OCHD will be in touch with this student to ensure contact tracing is conducted, per county protocols.
For reasons of privacy protection, OCHD and MPH will not share the names of individuals who test positive for COVID-19. Within our close-knit community, however, it may become apparent which individual has tested positive. We strongly encourage all members of our community to honor our Core Values of respect and kindness by safeguarding the privacy of fellow community members. Please do not speculate, engage in spreading rumors, or otherwise share, via social media or in conversation, information that you may learn about the individual who tested positive. We extend our thanks to students, families, and colleagues for the respect and courtesy you extend to each and every member of our community.
We look forward to resuming on-campus classes next Monday, January 11. Note: It is imperative that each of us is well-informed about Phase 2 priorities, updated protocols, and necessary checklist items before returning to campus. Thank you for watching this Phase 2 video to help safeguard our individual and collective health and well-being.
Sincerely,
The Pandemic Response Team
P.S. At the testing today, we distributed this Phase 2 flyer, which we hope will provide information and shared context for family conversation.
