Dear Bereans,

This is the update for Monday, October 3, 2022.

Quarantine update

Currently, we have 3 students in quarantine.  Cases continue to be relatively uncomplicated.  Similar to last week, we have only two on-campus employees quarantining with positive tests.  The on-campus Bereans who have tested positive work in Rogers-Traylor and Danforth Technology.

  COVID-19 Community Level

As of last Friday Madison County’s COVID community level remained for another week in the “Green” designation.  Of our neighboring counties Jackson and Rockcastle remain “Green,” too, and our other neighbors are all in “Yellow.”  Considerably more than half the counties in the Commonwealth are now in the “Green” and there are only 11 counties remaining in “Red”, mostly in the Eastern part of the state.  I have included an image of the state below.

Kentucky update

The number of new reported cases in the Commonwealth has improved considerably to 3979, a little more than half the number we had in the preceding week.  The test positivity rate has also continued to decrease and is now at about 7.7%. The number of deaths per week in the state is declining gradually, 61 this past week, vs. 67 last week.

Mask Policy Update

Given that surge of cases on campus seems to be diminishing and that in our county cases have also decreased, the AC has decided to end the indoor mask mandate, returning to the policy that individual faculty and staff responsible for classroom and workplace settings are free to require everyone present to be masked, but that the default will be not to require indoor masking.  Of course, anyone who prefers to continue to wear a mask is encouraged to do so.  Masking is still a good idea in indoor mass gatherings (>50 attendees).

Quarantine policies, for those who develop symptoms and test positive will continue unchanged.

Vaccination

It is still a great idea to protect yourself and lessen the severity of future surges on campus by seeking the updated COVID vaccine, now available to everyone over 12 years old.

Lyle Roelofs, President
Berea College