The following update on Oct. 23 from the Ready and Resilient Committee informs the campus community about the shift in alert levels and provides information about new clusters, increased and required testing, and reporting positive test results.
Elon community members,
As mentioned yesterday, we continue to identify additional cases from clusters in our current surge and are now moving to Level 3 – High Alert. Today’s numbers are a bit complicated. Of the 44 new cases, a number are the result of delayed reporting by students, and 35 cases are connected to existing or new clusters. In anticipation of this shift, yesterday we announced actions associated with the current social hiatus.
New clusters
With these new cases, the Alamance County Health Department will also be reporting to the state three new clusters of positive cases associated with Delta Delta Delta sorority, Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority, and Zeta Tau Alpha sorority.
Most of the active cases currently on the COVID-19 dashboard, are connected to one of the eight clusters reported in the past week, including one of those clusters that is also connected to an event at a local off-campus bar. These numbers are extremely concerning and show how isolated cases spread through social contact can impact entire groups. There are important lessons to learn here: If you are in a social or residential group, NOW is the time to reflect on the nature of your shared activities. Wearing a mask, physically distancing, and limiting contacts are the best tools to mitigate virus spread.
Increased and required testing
In order to find undetected cases, tomorrow and all next week we will expand surveillance testing to at least 2,000 students, with a priority on students in residential environments and student groups where the cases have appeared. This effort will help us to disrupt the spread of the virus by identifying more cases and moving students into isolation or quarantine.
Reporting positive test results
While today’s number of cases is a new daily high, we are especially disappointed that some of today’s cases are positive test results that were not reported to the university for several days. Some students had left the county to be tested by an off-campus provider and had not disclosed their positive test results. This puts all members of our community at risk, violates the Healthy Elon Commitment and presents major challenges for Elon operations.
Any student who receives a positive test result that they believe may not have been reported to the university by the county health department should upload a copy of their positive test result to their Phoenix Health portal or send directly to the University’s medical director, Dr. Ginette Archinal, at garchinal@elon.edu. If you get a positive test result, immediate notification is essential so we can take steps to support you and protect the campus community
Jeff Stein, Ready & Resilient Committee Chair
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- Dan Anderson, Vice President of University Communications
- Ginette Archinal, Medical Director of Student Health and University Physician
- MarQuita Barker, Director of Residence Life
- John Barnhill, Associate Vice President for University Advancement
- Tom Flood, Assistant Vice President of Physical Plant
- Jason Husser, Associate Professor of Political Science and Policy Studies, and Director of the Elon Poll (Academic Council Representative)
- Deandra Little, Assistant Provost, Director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning and Professor of English
- Paul Miller, Assistant Provost for Academic Operations and Communications and Professor of Exercise Science
- Kelly Reimer, Director of Teaching and Learning Technologies (Staff Council Representative)
- Carrie Ryan, Director of Auxiliary Services
- Kelli Shuman, Associate Vice President for Human Resources & Chief Human Resources Officer
- Gabie Smith, Dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Psychology
- Mary Southern, Project Manager for Provost and Academic Affairs Operations (Project Manager)
- Mike Ward, Deputy Director of Athletics
- Randy Williams, Vice President and Associate Provost for Inclusive Excellence and Assistant Professor of Education