Andover families: The following message was sent to students today.
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Dear campus adults and students,
We are seeing an unprecedented number of infectious illnesses in our students, mostly seasonal influenza. In the past 48 hours, approximately 40% of the student body has been diagnosed with influenza or flu-like illness at Sykes Wellness Center. In addition, COVID continues to circulate within our community in high numbers. To minimize spread and allow those who are ill to recover, we are taking the following measures:
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We will be cancelling classes Thursday and Friday as student sick days. Instructors may assign the equivalent of a regular homework assignment, but they should not try to replace the missed 75-minute class with independent work. Instructors will communicate any needed syllabi adjustments to students as soon as possible.
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We are also modifying athletic, co-curricular, social and life sport activities. All JV and life sports are cancelled today. All varsity contests are cancelled as well, with the exception of girls’ hockey at Cushing. Any further modifications to activities will be communicated as soon as possible.
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Students who are home with illness, should remain home until fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-lowering medications. Sykes Wellness Center has limited capacity, and we know that students often feel most comfortable recuperating at home. Therefore, we are asking families within a 4-hour radius to take their student home if they are sick.
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We realize that some students will be in dorms with illness. House counselors will check on students to make sure they are taking good care of themselves.
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- We ask everyone, students and adults, to mask. This is a simple way to minimize the spread of respiratory illnesses.
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Please use the hand sanitizer stations located in every building on campus and supplement with frequent hand washing.
- Cough into your elbow or a tissue and minimize close face-to-face or hand-to-hand contact.
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Paresky Commons has also put additional safeguards in place:
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- Pre-plating some food items
- Changing serving utensils more often
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Serving brunch (10 a.m. – 2 p.m.) and dinner (5 – 7 p.m.) on Thursday and Friday
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As a reminder, seasonal flu symptoms include fever, chills, cough, sore throat, stuffy/runny nose, body aches, headache, fatigue, and less commonly, vomiting or diarrhea. COVID symptoms may be similar but generally have been milder than the influenza symptoms we are seeing. Treatment and prevention include getting plenty of rest, staying hydrated, and choosing nutritious, immune-boosting foods. Minimizing stress also helps improve the body's natural immunity against illness.
Any further changes to scheduled events today and in the days ahead will be communicated to the campus community as soon as possible. Thank you for helping us contain the spread of illnesses this winter.
Raynard Kington, MD, PhD
Merrilee Mardon, PhD
Amy Patel, MD
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Phillips Academy
180 Main St. | Andover, MA 01810 US
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You received this message because you are a valued member of the Andover community. We are obligated to communicate with you, and require you to be on our email list while your student(s) attends Phillips Academy. For more information contact the Dean of Studies Office.
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