As my first week at SUNY Oneonta comes to an end, I have seen the great affection you all have for our college. I have enjoyed meeting many of you and look forward to getting to know more of you in the weeks ahead.
As was mentioned last week, our college is seeing an increase in COVID cases. The return to in-person instruction and activities has been refreshing, but the more infectious Delta Variant and number of breakthrough cases in fully vaccinated individuals are causing us to implement extra steps to protect our community. As of last night, there are 84 positive cases among students. This means only 1.6 percent of our in-person undergraduate student population has tested positive, but the rate is high enough where we need to increase our prevention measures. The college is closely monitoring this situation and is beginning to apply additional health and safety measures.
Fully Vaccinated to be Randomly Tested
Beginning Monday, Sept. 13, a random sample of fully vaccinated students will be required to test for COVID-19 on campus each week. The tests are free, and the testing center is located in the Alumni Field House.
Seven percent of fully vaccinated students will be randomly selected each week. If selected, students will be notified by email on Sunday evening that they must be tested within the next seven days. Participation is mandatory, and failure to comply will result in conduct charges and sanctions such as probation, removal from residence halls, or loss of access to campus facilities. More information about the testing schedule can be found on the COVID-19 webpage.
Even if you are not required to test, we still encourage all fully vaccinated individuals to test every week as an extra precaution. Regular testing helps protect you and the community by identifying asymptomatic cases and reducing further spread of the virus.
Those who are not yet fully vaccinated or have an approved exemption are still required to test every week.
Continued Precautions are Necessary
To date, our data show that the vaccine is doing its job in preventing infections, serious illness and hospitalization, as the positivity rate among partially vaccinated or exempt (unvaccinated) students is more than four times higher than the rate among fully vaccinated students. However, the breakthrough cases we’ve seen so far show that simply having the vaccine does not guarantee protection from getting and spreading the virus.
It is important that we all adhere to the campus’ indoor masking policy and it is recommended to wear a mask indoors anywhere else you go. It is also important that we all avoid unmasked gatherings like off-campus parties - these are the places where the spread is occurring, not in classes or at on-campus activities.
Contingency Plans if No Improvement by Sept. 17
If the college observes a continued increase in the number of cases over the next week, we plan to implement additional temporary measures to reduce the spread of the virus. This plan may include a variety of temporary actions such as a transition to takeout-only dining, reducing density in classrooms and instructional spaces, a reduction of in-person events and activities and restricting visitors who are not students or employees from accessing campus facilities.
Family Weekend Canceled
Out of an abundance of caution, Family Weekend has been canceled for this fall. With cases increasing in our local region, to protect everyone’s health and safety and to minimize the spread of infection, we ask families to postpone any visits to Oneonta at this time.
It is up to each of us to take actions now to prevent any disruption to our semester. We all know how challenging it is when classes and activities are remote and interactions take place virtually.
Your commitment to getting vaccinated has been a huge factor in helping us cope with the impact of the Delta Variant and staying safe thus far; however, that does not mean we are immune to COVID significantly impacting the college. Taking simple precautions like masking, testing and staying away from unmasked gatherings now will pay off in the future.
Thank you to everyone for doing their part in taking appropriate actions and making responsible choices to ensure we have a successful semester.
Sincerely,
Alberto J.F. Cardelle
President
