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Campus Updates

From President Paul

Thanks to everyone for getting our semester off to a good start by supporting our COVID-19 arrival testing initiative and our ongoing surveillance testing.

Our staff are following established protocols to quickly respond to any COVID-19 cases in our campus community. Meanwhile, we are closely following spikes of positive cases nearby — which are a reminder that each of us is responsible for staying focused and continuing to vigilantly use all of our tools and knowledge to best protect ourselves and each other from the virus, enable our semester to continue in person, on campus, and protect our wider community.

Let’s help each other remember our safe health practices. A negative COVID test doesn’t mean we get a break from public health practices. Regular face covering usage protects ourselves and each other, and allows us to continue enjoying our community.

Please review our COVID-19 health and safety policies, and see our surveillance testing overview and “know the facts,” below.

Campus alert level

Our campus alert level continues to be 2, which indicates modified operations due to case levels in the area around campus.
Details: Campus COVID-19 Alert Levels.

Next phase of surveillance testing

By the end of last week, when our scheduled COVID-19 arrival testing wrapped up, 2,351 tests were completed on campus (students, faculty, and staff), and 10 positive cases were identified, which is a positivity rate of 0.4% — less than one half of one percent — during the January 27-February 5 phase.

What to do: If you will be on campus for any reason during this semester, were not part of on-campus surveillance testing so far, and have not already been in contact with Health and Counseling (students call 585-389-2500, email health@naz.edu) or Human Resources (faculty/staff email COVIDHR@naz.edu), reach out right away.

As planned, we are now in a new phase, which tests a randomly selected portion of the campus each week. Surveillance testing is designed to identify people without symptoms, including pre-symptomatic individuals, to help avert potential outbreaks before they occur. (People without symptoms can be contagious.)

What to do: Check your email each Thursday to see if you’ve been chosen for a test on campus for the following Monday/Tuesday. More details: Surveillance Testing

As always, anyone with symptoms or close contact with someone who tests positive follows a different protocol that starts with filling out your Nazareth online screening (if you filled it out earlier in the day, you can re-do it) and following its instructions.

Know the facts

Tested negative? Testing is a helpful tool, but it provides a result only for one moment in time. You still need to follow pandemic protocols, including daily screening online and kiosk check-in, 6-foot distancing, mask over the nose and mouth, frequent handwashing, and avoiding large groups. Maximum group sizes under campus COVID-19 alert level 2:
- On-campus gatherings with appropriate social distancing: Indoor and outdoor events/activities of up to 25 attendees.
- Off-campus gatherings with appropriate social distancing: Off-campus home gatherings limited to twice the number of people who live in your home, if indoors. If gathering outdoors, limit the size to triple the home’s occupancy.
Been vaccinated? Same protocols still apply. It’s not yet known whether someone vaccinated can still spread COVID-19, nor how long a person is immune to COVID-19 after receiving the vaccine.
Eating together — when within 6 feet, unmasked — is a higher risk, so keep it to people you live with, or stay spaced apart at least 6 feet. And keep masks on as much of the time as possible; don’t hang out talking without masks.

6-word stories

Openness, greatness, gratitude, and passion are among the strong sentiments you shared in 6-word stories about how you hope we will emerge in 2021:

Keep our minds and hearts open.

— Elena Garcia, student

Change brings abundant opportunity for greatness.

— Carrie Chizuk, student

Grateful for, empathetic towards each other.

— Chris Baudo, women’s hockey coach

Renewed passion for music's binding power.

— Andrea Folan, faculty

COVID-19 Resources

Latest updates (today’s and earlier emails)
Face coverings: Where to get masks on campus
COVID-19 cases
COVID-19 health and safety policies
Testing
Surveillance testing (to identify cases without symptoms)
Screening & Kiosks
Study/Zoom Rooms

Have a question? You can send it in using the form on any of those pages.

COVID-19 resources

Question of the week

What do I need to do for a COVID-19 test if I won't be on campus until later in the semester?

Same as others who started on campus earlier, just shifted later in time. Two tests are required for all students:

Get tested near home toward the end of your time away, in time to have your result before arriving. Testing is available across the country through pharmacies and other community locations; you also can check with your local health care provider or your local or state health department for testing opportunities near your home. In New York state, call 888-364-3065 or use the state's online COVID assessment tool to be guided to a testing appointment near you; you will be asked about symptoms but regardless of the answers, free testing is offered at state-run test sites for all New York residents. When scheduling, use your Rochester address. New York also has a test site finder; costs and insurance coverage may vary. Insurance typically covers testing if you've potentially been exposed, or if ordered by your health care provider.
If you live outside New York and beyond its neighboring states (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont), New York State’s travel advisory rule requires your two tests on a certain timeline, with a 3-day quarantine between tests.
Upload your first test result to the student health portal (“upload” is in the upper right). Be sure your test result documentation (which can be a screenshot or photograph) includes your name, date of birth, and test date. To get all of that in one view, you may need to activate the desktop view of the site from your phone, or open the result on a computer and take a picture of it with your phone.
Then, call Health and Counseling, 585-389-2500, to schedule your arrival test on campus.

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