Dear Assumption Community,
Unfortunately, 33 students, including several on one of our athletics teams, and 5 faculty and staff members, have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last week. Students who have tested positive have been placed in isolation. Additionally, 52 students have been sent home to quarantine because of close contact with a positive student. And 135 fully vaccinated students have been exposed to COVID-19 and are now required to wear their mask indoors and outdoors and increase their testing to twice a week. This increase in positive cases occurs following a month in which COVID-19 cases in Worcester increased 189% between July and August. Alarmingly, local hospitals are at maximum capacity.
The pandemic is still a public health threat for all of you and your families. That is an indisputable fact.
I acknowledge that the safety protocols are inconvenient and challenging. But they are necessary if students are to continue enjoying in-person classes and a residential experience. Several of the positive cases are the result of students, in particular unvaccinated students, ignoring safety protocols such as not wearing masks when they are off campus and in large gatherings.
If this concerning trend of positive cases continues, to promote the health and safety of all members of the Assumption community, additional, more stringent, safety protocols will be implemented to maintain in-person classes and the residential experience.
What can students do?
- If you are unvaccinated, get the vaccine.
- Comply with the mask requirement and wear the mask correctly
- Wear a mask on and off campus, especially if you are unvaccinated.
- Follow the safety protocols and the testing requirement
- Stay out of bars and avoid other large gatherings where masks are not being worn.
- Cooperate with the University Health Center’s request for contact tracing.
- Their efforts are not to punish anyone, rather to stop the spread and keep everyone safe.
What can faculty and staff do? All of the above. Lead by example. Help students and colleagues to understand how serious the situation is. If you see a student or colleague who is not complying with our public health protocols, address the situation directly with the individual and complete the non-compliance form.
While some members of the campus community are disregarding the safety protocols, most Hounds are taking the protocols seriously. They are to be commended, but they are concerned. They have a right to be amid this sudden increase of COVID-19 cases on campus in just the first week of the semester. The University expresses its gratitude to those who are putting the University community before themselves. Through their actions, they have demonstrated a preference for in-person classes and a residential experience. Together, we can make these minor sacrifices and embody and demonstrate what it means to be a student, faculty or staff member at Assumption.
The future of the semester will be determined by the choices we make.
Sincerely,
