I am writing with this week’s updates on our public health metrics, local and campus risk levels based on our best available data, and resulting action plan for the upcoming week. Please click
here to watch a quick video. We hope that our modified campus arrival quarantine will end very soon (one more test to go this week!) and we can move into a lower (yellow) risk zone this weekend.
Current PA Campus/Community Risk Level: September 2-17:
ORANGE (moderate risk)
Public health guiding principles: Campus, town, county, state data.
Campus community members in isolation = 1
Campus community members in quarantine = 7
Number of new positive test results from campus testing past 7 days = 1
Campus testing positivity rate past 7 days = 0.04%
The town of Andover: 17.2 daily cases per 100k
Essex County: 20.9 daily cases per 100k
Massachusetts COVID-19 risk level is “very high”: 34.2 daily cases per 100k
Numbers in isolation/quarantine above reflect all individuals that have been tested on/off campus and have informed the wellness center team.
COVID-19 vaccination update:
76.3% have received 1+ dose, 66.9% fully vaccinated in Massachusetts.
99% of PA students have received 1+ dose, 94.9% of PA students are fully vaccinated.
COVID-19 Testing:
All Students: Testing on Mondays/Thursday. Last test of the modified campus arrival quarantine is Thursday, September 16. Please have saliva sample in collection box no later than 9am.
COVID-19 Test Results:
9/6: 0 of 400 positive
9/9: 1 of 1196 positive
9/13: 0 of 1190 positive
A look ahead when we get to yellow (lower) risk: (which could be as soon as September 18)
Masking: Will continue to be required inside all spaces until at least October 1. Outside will remain mask-optional. When we move to a lower risk zone, we will move to mask-optional in your own dorm.
Off-campus permissions: When we move to a lower risk zone, we will be allowing some off-campus permissions. PLEASE wait for the confirmation email, which will be sent as soon as we receive our testing results from September 16 and review the local COVID data. For off-campus permissions, we are trying to minimize the number of students off campus, minimize public transportation use, and minimize exposures.
- Fully vaccinated students may walk downtown.
- Fully vaccinated students may request day excuses from your house counselor or cluster dean to attend club sport commitments, auditions, music/dance/theater rehearsals, and time-sensitive activities such as college visits and family events.
- Requests must come in via email to cluster deans by 10 AM on Thursday. Request needs to include dates/times/means of transportation/host information and parent permission.
- Students who receive overnight permission must check back onto campus through Sykes Wellness Center in order to pick up saliva testing tubes. These students will be added to the testing cohort next week. If a student misses a required test, they will lose overnight permissions for the rest of the term.
We are hopeful that we will be able to continue opening up restrictions as conditions allow. It has been so fun seeing all of you back on campus. Have a great week!
Best,
Jenny Elliott
Assistant Head of School for Residential Life and Dean of Students
Amy Patel, MD
Medical Director