Dear Bereans,

This is the campus update for Tuesday, July 26, 2022.  There was little to report last week, but there are some significant developments to make you aware of now.

Quarantine update

At this point, we have three on-campus students in quarantine.  Among on-campus employees, we have a total of six Bereans quarantining, as well some close contacts who are monitoring.  All the positive cases are in two areas, Facilities and Public Safety.

Kentucky update

The number of new reported cases in the Commonwealth had been hovering around 10,000/week but has increased to 15,884 for the past week.  Although the increase is concerning, the level is still far below the earlier surges, where the state had upwards of 10,000 new cases every day.  For the last week, we averaged 2269 new cases/day in Kentucky, up from 1564 last week.  The test positivity rate for the past week has increased, too, to 19.1%.  Despite the increasing number of cases, the number of deaths in the state has been holding pretty steady; it was 59 this past week for an average of 8 per day.

COVID-19 Community Level

The COVID community level throughout the state has continued to worsen, and, as of last Friday, Madison County has gone “Red,” and most of the surrounding counties have as well.

The CDC level and guidance for these levels can be found here.

The main difference between the CDC recommendations for the “Red” and “Yellow” levels is that indoor masking in congregate settings is mandatory for “Red” while it is only recommended for “Yellow” and discretionary for “Green.”  This change to Red has compelled a change in campus masking policy, as described below.

Masking policy

The increased case rate in our area has compelled the Administrative Committee to consider our masking policy again.  The CDC guidance for the “Red” level is as follows.

	HIGH
Vaccination	Stay up to date with vaccinations
Mask use	Wear well-fitting masks in all indoor public settings, including K-12 schools
Isolation & Quarantine	Stay home when sick. Follow isolation & quarantine guidance, including getting tested if exposed or have symptoms of COVID-19
Physical distancing	Limit indoor in-person gatherings and reduce size of gatherings. Encourage physical distancing.
High risk persons	Consider avoiding non-essential indoor public activities. Talk to healthcare provider about preventative treatments.

Consistent with CDC guidance, we will now again require masking in all indoor congregate settings, with the same exceptions we allowed last year, i.e., in dining settings and, for students, when in their room in their residence hall.  Likewise, employees do not have to wear a mask if they are alone in a room.

This new masking policy will go into effect immediately.  (Please note that the ice cream social planned for tomorrow afternoon, which has been moved indoors due to the likelihood of thunderstorms, will be the first event to be held under this new policy.  Ice cream enjoyers should “mask up” when not enjoying the ice cream.)

As to the other guidance, we are also mandating the requirements listed for Isolation and Quarantine.  Employees should test when experiencing symptoms and, if positive, report to HealthyAtWork@Berea.edu and their supervisor, quarantine at home, and follow all isolation and quarantine recommendations.  Students experiencing symptoms should report to White House Clinic for a test and follow the direction of Student Life, if positive.

As to the Physical Distancing guidelines, we urge all Bereans to do what is possible to comply but are not mandating any actions.

At present, for reasons of public safety in the wake of the mass shootings earlier in the summer, all buildings on campus are card-key access only.  When this change was announced, we also indicated that this policy would be discussed by the community in the fall to provide advice to the AC on whether it should be continued.  Whatever the outcome of those discussions will be–likely in the General Faculty Assembly and in the Staff Forum–it does appear that the control of access to campus buildings will need to continue for the present as we deal with the latest surge and the increasing number of cases locally.

The Fall 2022 Term is coming

Here are the Key Start-Up Dates:

• Saturday, August 20—New Students Arrive
• Monday, August 22—Continuing Students Return
• Tuesday, August 23—Labor Begins (Labor Training for all students 10 am – 4 pm)
• Wednesday, August 24—Classes Begin

Stay safe and up-to-date with vaccination protections,
Lyle Roelofs, President
Berea College