Update on Campus Health & Safety
Dear Colleagues,
We are writing in regard to recent significant developments that impact our campus health and safety. The first is the announcement of Santa Clara County’s return to the purple tier on Nov. 17, which includes a revised stay-at-home order for county residents. The second is an increased rate of positive COVID-19 tests reported as part of our exit testing of students last week (see our COVID dashboard). On Friday, we sent a message to students informing them of this higher positivity rate and urging them to follow safety protocols as many are traveling back to their hometowns.
In light of these developments, we want to note some changes to procedures for the duration of the fall term:
- A renewed emphasis on remote work wherever possible. Non-essential campus operations and activities will be reduced from now until our return in January. Determinations for winter quarter have not yet been made.
- No new requests for on-campus essential access will be made until further notice, and each unit will be asked to evaluate their existing campus operations for opportunities to redirect work remotely.
- The on-campus weekly testing clinics will cease operation until January.
We will continue to carefully monitor and consult with County public health officials to ensure that we are in full compliance with all public health orders. At this time, our plan for welcoming students to lower density on-campus housing remains in place for January. As always, our priority is the health and safety of our campus as we work on planning and preparations for winter quarter. Please refer to our Prepared SCU website which will house the latest updates.
Thank you for your partnership and hard work as together, we continue to navigate these challenging times for our University community. We wish you a restful Thanksgiving break.
Sean Collins, MSPH
COVID-19 Operations Team
Sam Florio, J.D.
COVID-19 Testing Team Lead
Craig Stephens, Ph.D.
COVID-19 Testing Team Lead
David Hess, Ph.D.
Chair of Biology Department, COVID-19 Tracking and Tracing Team Lead
Katherine Saxton, Ph.D.
Director of Public Health Program, COVID-19 Health Ambassador