Dear Bereans,<\/p>\n
This is the\u00a0update for\u00a0Monday,\u00a0October 17,\u00a02022.\u00a0 Welcome to the second half of the fall term!<\/p>\n
Two profound quotes for Mountain Day (this Wednesday):<\/p>\n
The mountains are calling and I must go.
\nJohn Muir 1873<\/p>\n
Think like a mountain.
\nAldo Leopold 1949<\/p>\n
(Both these amazing American heroes of ecology are worthy of further study.)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve had a bit of a surge over last week and especially the weekend and, as of this morning we had seven students inquarantine, four at home and three in James Hall.\u00a0 And, I\u2019ve seen notification of two more cases during the day, today.\u00a0 There is also a surge of cases among on-campus employees, and we now have nine faculty and staff quarantining with positive tests.\u00a0 Those Bereans work in Student Life, Facilities Knapp Hall, Stevenson Hall, the Farm, Hafer-Gibson, Hutchins and Woods-Penn.\u00a0 I have not heard that any of the cases represent serious health concerns at this point.<\/p>\n
There are some other known close contacts in the case of some of these cases, and some further positive tests are likely.<\/p>\n
In contrast to our on-campus situation, the County and the Commonwealth seem to be doing reasonably well.\u00a0 As of last Friday Madison County\u2019s COVID community level remained for another week in the \u201cGreen\u201d designation and now most of the state is \u201cGreen,\u201d too, with only one county, Letcher County in southeastern KY in \u201cRed.\u201d\u00a0 I attach a copy of this encouraging map below.<\/p>\n
The number of new reported cases in the Commonwealth continues to improve with 3240 cases in the past week compared to 3392 in the preceding week.\u00a0 The test positivity rate is up a bit to 8.5%, whereas it was 7.9% last week.\u00a0The number of deaths in the state is stuck at about 80\/week or about 11\/day.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0 Epidemiologists are starting to warn that a seasonal surge should be expected, and maybe that is what we are seeing on campus.\u00a0 Anyway, it is too early to think we\u2019re done with COVID, so please consider getting the updated booster as soon as your are able.<\/p>\n
And, while I am on the subject, health experts are strongly encouraging everyone to get a flu shot, too.<\/p>\n
With the increased numbers of cases on campus, we want to urge everyone to be as careful as possible.\u00a0 Wearing a mask is still optional, but current conditions certainly suggest it is a good idea whenever you can.<\/p>\n
Hoping to see everyone at the Pinnacles,
\nLyle Roelofs, President
\nBerea College<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Bereans, This is the\u00a0update for\u00a0Monday,\u00a0October 17,\u00a02022.\u00a0 Welcome to the second half of the fall term! Two profound quotes for Mountain Day (this Wednesday): The mountains are calling and I must go. John Muir 1873 Think like a mountain. Aldo Leopold 1949 (Both these amazing American heroes of ecology are worthy of further study.) Quarantine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":233,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-covid-19"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n