COVID-19 Campus Activity Updates
Sunday, October 11, 2020
Dear Albion Community,
Thank you for your cooperation this week with our temporary increased restrictions. This allowed us to move quickly to identify and isolate positive cases on campus. As a result, we will be lifting some restrictions over the next few days.
Saturday, October 10:
- The Dow and outdoor fitness center opened yesterday. Hours will be 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. today (Sunday) and Monday.
Monday, October 12:
- All organized social and co-curricular activities will be restored as of 8 a.m.
- Outdoor athletic fields will open on Monday at 8 a.m.
- In-person student employment on campus and off-campus in approved businesses will be restored.
- Visitors will be permitted again in outdoor spaces on campus. Students must register visitors using the visitor registration form on Together Safely.
- Students can continue to request to travel off-campus using the off-campus travel form on Together Safely.
Tuesday, October 13:
- Testing will take place for high-contact sports and varsity athletic activity will be restored. Modifications to practice plans may be in place and will be communicated to you by your head coach.
- The Dow will return to normal hours of operation.
Students can also visit approved businesses in town and receive food by delivery to campus.
Our expectation that students monitor and report any symptoms both via the Aura app and to remains. At least one of the cases identified this week was through proactive symptom monitoring. This case should serve as a reminder of the part we all play in helping to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and protect our campus. The quicker that individuals identify symptoms and report them, the quicker we can respond, offer care and isolate where appropriate.
All of us must live the commitment we made, the Albion Community Commitment, in order to be successful. We are confident Brits can do this — and we look forward to a continued productive, fun, healthy and safe semester as we begin Module B. Have a great weekend.
Office of the President
COVID-19 Update
Thursday, October 8, 2020, 11:40 a.m.
Dear Albion Community,
We have identified two additional positive test results. These individuals are currently in isolation and close contacts are being identified.
Current COVID-19 Data
9 positives in isolation on-campus
3 positives in isolation off-campus
11,383 test results and 24 positive cases since 8/4/20
Overall positive testing rate: 0.21%
Population positive rate: 1.2%
National rate: 4.8% | Rate for the state of Michigan: 3.51%
Total # of student cases: 21
Total # of employee cases: 3
Total # of false positives: 1
All non-academic athletic and co-curricular in-person activities are canceled until further test results come in later this week. “Non-academic athletic and co-curricular in-person activities” include organized social, co-curricular and athletic activities. Individual and informal activities that comply with safety protocols are permitted. For example, students may go for a walk or meet with classmates to study together.
Some students are actively choosing to violate our protocols, putting all of us in danger and jeopardizing the safety of others outside of our campus bubble. The student conduct process — including the potential for suspensions and expulsions — has now been fully activated for any student that clearly and actively violates any of our public health and safety protocols.
To be clear, this includes but is not limited to:
- Moving between residence halls.
- Any unapproved social gatherings
- Leaving campus without permission for any reason.
- Not completing the daily health screening symptom check reporting in the Aura app.
- Failure to be tested on assigned dates and times.
All of us must live the commitment we made, the Albion Community Commitment, in order to be successful. We are confident Brits can do this — and we look forward to a continued productive, fun, healthy and safe fall semester.
Office of the President
For more information, see our Positive Test Response Protocol.
Note:
Testing percentage = % of total tests resulting in a positive.
Population percentage = % of population testing positive.
COVID-19 Update
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Dear Albion Community,
Today, three additional positive test results were received. These individuals are currently in isolation and close contacts are being identified.
Current COVID-19 Data
8 positives in isolation on-campus, 3 that will have completed isolation by Thursday
2 positives in isolation off-campus
11200 test results and 23 positive cases since 8/4/20
Overall positive testing rate: 0.20%
Population positive rate: 1.15%
National rate: 4.8% | Rate for the state of Michigan: 3.41%
All non-academic athletic and co-curricular in-person activities are canceled until further test results come in later this week. “Non-academic athletic and co-curricular in-person activities” include organized social, co-curricular and athletic activities. Individual and informal activities that comply with safety protocols are permitted. For example, students may go for a walk or meet with classmates to study together following all health and safety guidelines.
Some students are actively choosing to violate our protocols, putting all of us in danger and jeopardizing the safety of others outside of our campus bubble. The student conduct process — including the potential for suspensions and expulsions — has now been fully activated for any student that clearly and actively violates any of our public health and safety protocols.
To be clear, this includes but is not limited to:
- Moving between residence halls.
- Any unapproved social gatherings
- Leaving campus without permission for any reason.
- Not completing the daily health screening symptom check reporting in the Aura app.
- Failure to be tested on assigned dates and times.
All of us must live the commitment we made, the Albion Community Commitment, in order to be successful. We are confident Brits can do this — and we look forward to a continued productive, fun, healthy and safe fall semester.
Office of the President
For more information, see our Positive Test Response Protocol.
Note:
Testing percentage = % of total tests resulting in a positive.
Population percentage = % of population testing positive.
COVID-19 Update
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Dear Albion Community,
We have learned that three new members of our community have tested positive for COVID-19. These individuals are currently in isolation. The Calhoun County Public Health Department is working to identify close contacts. This means that there are now six cases in isolation on campus and two at home. While the risk of additional community spread increases with each positive case, the precautions taken this weekend to reduce in-person contact have kept the risk relatively low at this time.
Albion College has now completed and received more than 10,416 test results, and identified a total of 20 positive cases from our first date of testing. To date, our overall positive testing rate is 0.19%, and our population positive rate is 1%. This is significantly lower than the national rate (4.8%) and the rate for the state of Michigan (3.41%).
All non-academic, athletic and co-curricular in-person activities are canceled until further test results come in later this week. “Non-academic, athletic and co-curricular in-person activities” include any organized social, co-curricular and athletic activities.
We continue to monitor compliance with our public health protocols with a goal to reduce restrictions over time. We cannot consider making changes to our policies until compliance with these measures increases.
Any student that has not completed testing by the end of the day on Wednesday, October 7 will participate in the conduct process and may face immediate temporary suspension.
Please see below for additional details:
Activities may continue in a virtual format. All student employment has now shifted to a virtual format. In the case where student employment is not possible remotely, that employment will need to be suspended until further notice unless the supervisor requests and is granted an exception for essential positions with minimal social exposure.
Students may interact outside their room in common areas of their residence hall or outside their immediate residence hall areas of campus in small groups while observing proper mask usage and physical distancing. This is important for the maintenance of the mental health of our community. All academic-related activities can still occur in-person (such as group study sessions).
Students will be limited to the following locations/activities outside of their residential location:
- Attending classes, academic support appointments, or scheduled tutoring sessions with faculty or staff.
- Retrieving mail and packages from the KC mailroom.
- Accessing academic resources/materials from the bookstore immediately before or after classes.
- Grab-and-go food pickup from Baldwin and the Eat Shop only.
- Retrieving library resources during temporary limited hours (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
We continue to be impressed with the concern that most students are illustrating for each other and the broader community through their increasing compliance with our public health protocols.
Some students are actively choosing to violate our protocols, putting all of us in danger and jeopardizing the safety of others outside of our campus bubble. The student conduct process — including the potential for suspensions and expulsions — has now been fully activated for any students that clearly and actively violates any of our public health and safety protocols.
To be clear, this includes but is not limited to:
- Moving between residence halls.
- Any unapproved social gatherings
- Leaving campus without permission for any reason.
- Not completing the daily health screening symptom check reporting in the Aura app.
- Failure to be tested on assigned dates and times.
All of us must live the commitment we made, the Albion Community Commitment, in order to be successful. We are confident Brits can do this — and we look forward to a continued productive, fun, healthy and safe fall semester.
Office of the President
For more information, see our Positive Test Response Protocol.
Note:
Testing percentage = % of total tests resulting in a positive.
Population percentage = % of population testing positive.
