Marist extends COVID 'pause' amid a spring that no one hoped for
Correction: The number of active student cases at SUNY New Paltz was misstated in an earlier version of this article.
With an abundance of caution after a fall semester that included multiple COVID-19 outbreaks, Marist College opted to begin its spring with remote classes, resuming in-person learning only on March 1.
Now, the campus is hoping to be able to resume in-person learning on April 1.
“This is not the spring semester any of us had hoped for,” the college said in a letter to the Marist community signed by Executive Vice President Geoffrey Brackett and vice presidents Thom Wermuth and Deb DiCaprio.
The college extended its campus “pause” again as the number of confirmed COVID cases continues to mount, this time with a target end date of March 31.
"This is disappointing news, especially for students, but this additional time is critical to ensure that we are appropriately safeguarding the health of our community," the letter said.
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The outbreak comes as Dutchess County as a whole has seen infections and hospitalizations increase.
Marist’s partial campus shutdown was first announced March 17, as the number of active cases relating to the outbreak topped 100. As of Friday, that total was 177, with 332 total cases since the beginning of the semester; four of those are employees, and the rest are students.
Of its active cases, 89 were classified as off campus or at home, and 88 were in on-campus isolation.
Speaking Monday, county health Commissioner Dr. Anil Vaidian said “we have nothing to indicate” the outbreak has spread into the surrounding community, but noted Marist’s number of off-campus cases makes it “a fluid situation.”
Marist has not said how the outbreak started, but officials have pointed out some other campuses also had surges when students returned for the spring. While no other local campus has seen the scope of problems with which Marist has grappled, SUNY New Paltz on Friday reported 60 active student cases and two active employee cases; the school has reported 185 on-campus student cases, 26 cases among students living off-campus in Ulster County, and 28 employee cases since Jan. 1.
Marist’s surveillance program calls for testing its entire on-campus population every two weeks, with 50% tested each week.
Under state guidelines, any school that does not test at least 25% of its campus each week would face a mandatory shutdown if it has 100 positive cases in a two-week span. Schools that test more than that percentage can stay open as long as 5% of its on-campus population, including students and staff, do not test positive. For Marist, that would equate to roughly 300 cases; it has had more than 270 in the last two weeks.
Under the restrictions students are still allowed to engage in outdoor activities with roommates or pods, while distancing. And the school Sunday said they could leave campus for “essential errands,” such as grocery shopping, attending medical appointments, internships and off-campus jobs.”
Students are not allowed to have group gatherings outside their room or household, use the dining hall, or have visitors. The James J. McCann Recreation Center is closed and Marist’s Division I sports programs and college-organized activities are suspended.
The school noted surveillance testing will continue during the pause.
Dutchess, meanwhile, started this week with three consecutive days with an average seven-day positivity rate exceeding 5%, before coming down to 4.93% Wednesday. It was the first time the rate was 5% of higher since Feb. 4.
As of Wednesday, the most recent day for which the county shared data on its online dashboard. There were 1,380 active cases in Dutchess, with 58 residents hospitalized. Four residents died of reasons relating to the virus in the preceding week, bringing the county’s total to 422 for the pandemic.