COVID-19 Update: June 22, 2021

Posted: June 21, 2021


Author: Lyle Roelofs

Dear Bereans,

This is the update for Monday, June 21, 2021.

Quarantine, testing and vaccination update

No on-campus employees are in any sort of quarantine at present.  We have one student in precautionary quarantine due to recent travel.  We are at about 79% employees (82% of non-PFE employees) who have documented their fully vaccinated status.  WELL DONE BEREANS!

Vaccination policy for employees for the Fall 2021 term

This finalized policy has been added to the COVID policies web site.

Kentucky and Madison County update

The Madison County Health Department reported 7, 1, 5, 3, 3, 1, and 6 new cases for Monday through yesterday.  The number of current active cases has decreased significantly to 35.  Our 7-day average of new cases per day has decreased to 4, keeping us in the Yellow Zone at 2.7 new cases per day per 100,000 residents.  The total number of deaths in the county attributable to COVID-19 as reported by the State remains at 112.

Gov. Beshear reported 290, 233, 255, 211, 187, 83, and 115 new COVID-19 cases and 8, 4, 3, 2, 4, 3, and 3 new deaths for Tuesday through today, respectively, in Kentucky.  The 7-day average of the number of new cases/day has decreased to 180 and the average of numbers of deaths/day has decreased to 4.  The latest test positivity rate is down to 1.95%.  Kentucky has released updated Healthy at Work guidelines.

Overall improvement continues in the Commonwealth and in Madison County.

Madison County information

Scott Steele and I joined the monthly Madison County Emergency Preparedness Zoom call last Wednesday.  This is a group of local leaders and emergency leaders that has been meeting throughout the pandemic.  A couple of matters of local interest:

  • Both Richmond and Berea have opened their city buildings up for walk-in visits following the recent change in public health instructions from Frankfort.
  • Whitehouse Clinic locations are offering vaccination on a walk-in basis every day.  No appointments are necessary.
  • State health authorities are concerned about the possibility of an outbreak of the delta variant of the virus among the unvaccinated population.
  • Some nearby counties have gotten to the Green Zone, we are headed in that direction, too.

And an interesting fact reported by the Director of Public Health, Nancy Crewe, who passed along that the AMA has announced that 94% of physicians nationwide have been vaccinated.

Vaccination policy at other colleges and universities

As of this morning, the Chronicle of Higher Education lists 522 schools that will require vaccination in the fall.

Stay safe, stay negative, stay in touch,
Lyle Roelofs, President
Berea College