Dear Bereans,

This is the campus update for Monday, August 30, 2021.

Quarantine, testing and vaccination update

As of today, we have three on-campus student in quarantine because of positive tests.  Two are quarantining on campus and the other is at home.  As to on-campus employees, we have four employees who have tested positive and are quarantining, one in Grow Appalachia, one faculty member in the MAC building, and two FM staff members.  We also have two CDL staff members in close contact quarantine and one classroom remains closed due to cases among the children.

Our overall employee vaccination percentage remains at 87% and for non-PFE employees our percentage also remains at 89%.  Let’s keep going; we can do better.  If you are still making up your mind, please see the attachment!

Speaking of the CDL

Director Amanda Messer informs us that the CDL received a perfect review at its annual licensing review this past week.  Congratulations to the great staff of the CDL!  We are proud of you.

Important announcement regarding Berea Community School

We have been made aware that Berea Community School has decided to put classes on hold for time being.  As you may remember the College recently updated our policy to be of assistance.  Here is the statement from HR.

COVID-19 Dependent-Care Policy

If an employee’s child is excluded from regular care or schooling for COVID-19-related reasons, that employee should contact Human Resources immediately to determine what arrangements can be made in relation to altered hours or remote work that may allow the employee to continue working and avoid taking sick or vacation leave. The employee is responsible for informing Human Resources once the school is again open for direct instruction

If you are a parent or guardian affected by the School’s decision, you can email healthyatwork@berea.edu once you and your supervisor have worked out the best altered schedule.  As always, the HR team is available to help with questions you have.

Steve Lawson
Associate Vice President, Human Resources
Berea College

Kentucky and Madison County update

The Madison County Health Department reported a total of 549 new cases for the week ending on Sunday.  The 7-day average of new cases per day has increased significantly again to 78, which puts us further into the Red Zone at 76 new cases per day per 100,000 residents.  The department also reports that at this point 45.8% of county residents have been fully vaccinated, an increase of 1.0% over last week.  Unfortunately, the total number of deaths in the county attributable to COVID-19 as reported by the State has again increased and now stands at 116.

Kentucky reported 29,486 new cases for the 7 days ending today for a 7-day average of 4212 cases/day, an increase by about 23% over last week’s number.  The Commonwealth has reported 183 deaths over the last seven days for an average number of deaths/day of 26, a 71% increase over last week!  The latesttest positivity rate is 13.45%, and that also keeps going up.   Governor Beshear, in his remarks today, stressed how serious the situation is in our hospitals—only 115 adult ICU beds are left available in the state at this point—and that even some children are in very difficult condition, some of them on ventilators!

The attached graphic shows current hospitalization data in Baptist Health Lexington from Saturday.  It displays very compellingly the protection offered by vaccination; not perfect, but quite amazing.

Vaccination policy at other colleges and universities

As of this morning, the Chronicle of Higher Education lists 817 schools that will require vaccination in the fall. This is another large increase from last week, by more than 50 schools.  I had heard from a number of presidents that their schools would be requiring vaccination as soon as one of the options received full FDA approval, which happened last week.  In Kentucky, Transy has joined Centre and Berea in requiring all students to be vaccinated.

Mask advice

Some Bereans have expressed concern about mask-wearing habits they are observing.  Masks really do help significantly reduce the probability of spreading COVID-19.  Please see the CDC guidance, where you can find the following graphic that shows the right way and all the wrong ways to wear a mask, or at least most of them.

If you see Bereans wearing masks incorrectly, consider a friendly reminder of proper usage or, if that isn’t possible, you can use the HealthyAtWork@berea.edu email to identify faculty or staff who need further instruction, or work through your area coordinator, if a student needs some help with this.

Stay safe, get vaccinated, stay in touch,
Lyle Roelofs, President
Berea College